THE use of vena caval filters has increased significantly since the introduction of percutaneous placement techniques and the development of reduced-profile devices. The literature contains hundreds of reports of immediate and long-term outcomes for patients who have had these devices placed but the reports do not employ consistent standards, definitions, or techniques, making it difficult to c...

Grindstaff, Regina R., Ryan J. Grindstaff, and J. Thomas Cunningham. Effects of right atrial distension on the activity of magnocellular neurons in the supraoptic nucleus. Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol 278: R1605–R1615, 2000.—A small balloon placed at the junction of the superior vena cava and right atrium was used to stimulate cardiac volume receptors in pentobarbital sodium...

T he concept of surgical caval interruption was suggested as early as 1868 by Trousseau, who proposed creating a barrier in the inferior vena cava (IVC) to prevent venous emboli from the legs from reaching the lungs.1 In 1967, nearly 100 years later, the first endovenous filter was implanted.2 Although the basic concept of caval filtration has largely remained the same over the past century, ad...

Superior vena caval syndrome (SVCS) is a debilitating condition attributed to malignancy in more than 70% of cases. However, solitary head and neck metastases arising from renal cell carcinomas without evidence of disease elsewhere are rare. We report a case of renal cell carcinoma presenting as a rapidly growing right cervical lymph node with compression on the subclavian vein causing superior...

Anomalous vena cavae can have significant implications for procedures on the right side of the heart. We report a rare anatomical configuration in a 44-year-old female, which to the best of our knowledge, is the first report of such an association. She had a bicuspid aortic valve in conjunction with a persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) draining into the coronary sinus, and a left-sided ...

A 14 year old girl with double outlet right ventricle, left isomerism, and complicated atrial anatomy had undergone corrective surgery with intra-atrial rerouting at 5 years of age. Cardiac catheterisation eight years after the surgery showed that she had two systemic venous baZe stenoses: between the hepatic vein and caval vein, and the caval vein and right atrium. Two Palmaz stents were succe...