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. 2008 Mar;24(1):28-30.
doi: 10.1007/s12288-008-0020-0. Epub 2008 May 1.

Superior vena cava syndrome in children

Vineeta Gupta  1 , Srikanth R Ambati, P Pant, Baldev Bhatia
Affiliations

Superior vena cava syndrome in children

Vineeta Gupta et al. Indian J Hematol Blood Transfus. 2008 Mar.

Abstract

Superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) is rare in childhood. 18 cases of SVCS were seen in children ranging from 3-14 years with a mean age of 8.8 years. There were 15 males and 3 female children. Diagnosis could be confirmed in 17 cases as one child succumbed to severe respiratory distress without a definitive diagnosis. The commonest cause of SVCS was lymphoma. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) was more common than Hodgkin's disease. In two cases the final diagnosis was tuberculosis of mediastinal lymph nodes. The diagnosis was confirmed by cervical lymph node biopsy in 6 cases, mediastinal biopsy in 6 cases and bone marrow aspiration in the remaining 5 cases. Intravenous Dexamethasone provided relief of symptoms in 13 patients. None of the children received emergency radiotherapy. Anti-tubercular treatment produced complete cure in the two patients with tubercular mediastinal lymphadenopathy.

Keywords: Lymphoma; Superior mediastinal syndrome; Superior vena cava syndrome; Tuberculosis.

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