Superior vena caval obstruction in patients with gut failure receiving home parenteral nutrition

Clinical suspicion and venographic conformation were used to diagnose 15 cases of superior vena caval obstruction (SVCO) in 107 home parenteral nutrition (HPN) patients over 379 cumulative years of HPN (3.9 cases/100 patient-years). Patients with SVCO had been on HPN a mean of 51.5 months and had used 6.2 (range 1-50) central catheters, including short- and long-term, before SVCO was diagnosed. The frequency of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with SVCO was approximately the same as that in our general HPN population. Positive blood cultures were present immediately preceding the diagnosis of SVCO in 40% (six of 15) of cases. Atypical line placements were noted in two cases. The most common management strategies employed were conversion to enteral feedings in five patients and placement of a new catheter directly into the right atrium by thoracotomy in another five patients. Two of the five with right atrial catheters experienced a postpericardiotomy syndrome (fever, pericardial rub, and pulmonary infiltrates) that responded promptly to indomethacin. The most significant long-term sequela of SVCO was the need for a left jugular vein to right atrial appendage bypass in one patient with chronic venous congestion from her SVCO. Once the SVCO is confirmed, systemic heparinization provides immediate antithrombotic effect and minimizes the risk of pulmonary embolism. The use of streptokinase may result in rapid thrombolysis.