Superior vena cava syndrome in a man with situs inversus totalis and left main bronchus cancer

Abstract

Situs inversus (SI), is left to right inversion of internal organs. It may remain unrecognized until discovery during emergency surgery or investigation of symptoms. There are three reports of lung cancer with SI in Medline. However search in PubMed by 15 December 2008, there isn't any report of superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) with any benign or malignant disease in patients with SI. We present the case of a 59 year old man with small cell carcinoma in left main bronchus presented with SVCS. Chest radiography and contrast enhanced CT scan confirmed SI with compression left side located superior vena cava with left lung small cell carcinoma. To our knowledge, here, we present the first case of SVCS with SI.