Successful emergency endovascular treatment for superior vena cava injury

Superior vena cava (SVC) hemorrhage due to iatrogenic injury is an infrequent but important event. We report the case of a 56-year-old woman with a history of right pneumonectomy for lung cancer with iatrogenic SVC injury and hemorrhage. After unsuccessful attempts at suture repair of the defect, an endovascular approach using a stent graft succeeded in controlling hemorrhage while maintaining vessel patency. To our knowledge, this is the third report of SVC hemorrhage control using this technique, and it supports the experience of other authors that endovascular stenting is an effective means of treating emergent venous hemorrhage.