Treatment
Several methods of treatment are available, mainly consisting of careful drug therapy and surgery. Glucocorticoids (such as prednisone or methylprednisolone) decrease the inflammatory response to tumor invasion and edema surrounding the tumor. Glucocorticoids are most helpful if the tumor is steroid-responsive, such as lymphomas. In addition, diuretics (such as furosemide) are used to reduce venous return to the heart which relieves the increased pressure.
In an acute setting, endovascular stenting by an interventional radiologist may provide relief of symptoms in as little as 12-24 hours with minimal risks.
Read more about this topic: Superior Vena Cava Syndrome
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—James Thurber (18941961)
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—Benjamin Harrison (18331901)