Use of a metallic stent for relief of symptoms caused by superior vena caval obstruction in a patient with advanced cancer: a case report.

Abstract

This report describes the insertion of a metallic stent in the superior vena cava to relieve the symptoms of malignant superior vena caval obstruction in a 75-year-old woman with far-advanced lung cancer in whom other methods of symptom control had been ineffective. Her symptoms were quickly relieved by insertion of the stent. She died 1 month following the procedure, without recurrence of the symptoms. The technical aspects of the procedure and the issues affecting the clinical decision-making process in this case are discussed.