Open AccessSuperior vena cava syndrome due to pacemaker leads: an Indian report with a review of management practices
Author(s) -
Shekhar Kunal,
Vijay Pathak,
Pooja Pathak
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
monaldi archives for chest disease. pulmonary series/monaldi archives for chest disease/monaldi archives for chest disease. cardiac series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.196
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 2465-101X
pISSN - 1122-0643
DOI - 10.4081/monaldi.2019.977
Subject(s) - medicine , sick sinus syndrome , superior vena cava , cardiology , surgery , superior vena cava syndrome , radiology
Superior vena cava [SVC] syndrome due to pacemaker leads is a distinct diagnostic rarity. It is diagnosed clinically based on constellation of signs and symptoms supported by imaging evidence of SVC obstruction. A 70-year-old male, an ex-smoker, presented with facial and upper limb swelling along with exertional dyspnea. He had undergone transvenous dual chamber rate modulated [DDDR] pacemaker implantation four years back for symptomatic sinus node dysfunction. Imaging demonstrated a hypodense-filling defect in the SVC causing 70-80% luminal narrowing along with presence of collaterals. Patient was managed on anticoagulants and planned for SVC stenting with epicardial pacing which failed. Patient refused to undergo further any further treatment and was subsequently lost to follow-up. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first detailed description of SVC syndrome due to pacemaker leads from India, which was managed medically.