Demonstration of bilateral superior vena cava by contrast echocardiography

Bilateral Absence of the Superior Vena Cava

Bilateral absence of the superior vena cava (SVC) is a very rarely detected, mainly asymptomatic congenital vascular anomaly. Though usually innocent, this anomaly may complicate cardiothoracic surgery and certain procedures like central venous catheter insertion. This SVC anomaly is poorly known, and we assume that its incidence in the general population may be higher than detected. In this pa...

Isolated right superior vena cava into the left atrium detected by contrast echocardiography.

The patient is a 56-year-old woman admitted to the Intensive Care Unit for an acute traumatic subdural hematoma. Her medical history was significant for progressive, severe hypoxia reported to be secondary to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, despite absence of supporting pathology on chest radiogram (Figure 1). An electrocardiogram on admission revealed sinus rhythm with left atrial enlar...

Askin Tumor Presenting as Superior Vena Cava Syndrome

Superior vena cava syndrome.

Approximately 15,000 cases of superior vena cava (SVC) obstruction are diagnosed in the United States annually. Malignancies (primarily lung cancer) are the underlying cause of 80-85% of cases, leaving 15-20% caused by various benign conditions, including sclerosing mediastinitis (the diagnosis in our case). Thrombolytic therapy and major advances in vascular techniques in recent years have imp...

Superior Vena Cava Electrode

Background A unipolar defibrillation system using a single right ventricular (RV) electrode and the active shell or "CAN" of the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator itself situated in a left infraclavicular pocket has been shown to be as efficient in defibrillation as an epicardial lead system. The purpose of this study was to determine whether defibrillation efficacy can be improved further...