Endovascular thrombectomy provides durable, symptomatic relief in iliocaval tumor thrombosis

Iliocaval venous tumor thrombus is a morbid condition associated with chronic venous stasis, lower extremity edema/pain, extensive thrombus burden and high mortality secondary to critical flow obstruction, intracardiac thrombus extension and tumor embolization. Typically resistant to medical therapy, management is primarily surgical, presenting challenges for medically complex patients with widespread or end-stage disease. Mechanical or aspiration thrombectomy represents an appealing treatment strategy but data are lacking.

We performed a single-center, 10-year, retrospective review of patients with pathology-confirmed, iliocaval tumor thrombus who underwent thrombectomy. 14 patients met inclusion criteria and were managed by 18 procedures over this period.

The most common malignancy was renal-cell carcinoma (n=7; 50%); other types included germ cell (n=2; 14%), other genitourinary (n=2; 14%), neuroendocrine (n=1; 7%), soft tissue (n=1; 7%), and skin cell malignancies (n=1; 7%). All patients had thrombus involving the distal inferior venous cava (IVC), 50% had bilateral iliac involvement and 29% atrial involvement. Common indications were venous obstruction symptoms (n=11; 65%) and evidence of embolism (n=6; 35%). All patients tolerated the procedures without acute complication. The technical success rate was 94%, with marked improvement of flow and reduction in thrombus burden, and 79% had subjective symptomatic improvement. All patients survived for >2 weeks and 50% had long-term survival of >1 year, with 86% of these patients having renal-cell carcinoma (RCC). Three patients underwent multiple thrombectomies within days to weeks, with ultimate symptomatic improvement.

Overall, our study results suggest mechanical or aspiration thrombectomy as a safe and efficacious treatment for patients with iliocaval tumor thrombus.