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Case Reports
. 2024 Jan;58(1):100-104.
doi: 10.1177/15385744231188801. Epub 2023 Jul 5.

Exercise Intolerance That Resolved After venous Stenting of the Inferior Vena Cava

Jay M Bakas  1 , Adriaan Moelker  2 , Wendy S J Malskat  3 , Marie Josee E Van Rijn  1   3
Affiliations
Case Reports

Exercise Intolerance That Resolved After venous Stenting of the Inferior Vena Cava

Jay M Bakas et al. Vasc Endovascular Surg. 2024 Jan.

Abstract

Venous stenting could alleviate exercise intolerance associated with chronic inferior vena cava (IVC) obstruction. We describe a 36-year-old male patient with an unknown IVC-obstruction. The obstruction was discovered after a bi-iliac deep vein thrombosis (DVT). The thrombus was resolved using thrombolysis. In the chronic phase, the patient developed exercise intolerance without any leg-specific symptoms or signs. Venous stenting was performed to open the IVC-obstruction, 1 year after the acute DVT. His physical condition improved, but cardiac magnetic resonance imaging at rest did not reveal hemodynamical changes after stenting. The Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) physical and mental component summaries were increased from 40.3 to 46.1 and 42.2 to 53.7, respectively. In patients with iliocaval obstruction, improved venous flow without changes in resting hemodynamics can enhance exercise intolerance and quality of life, even in the absence of leg symptoms. Diagnostic tools performed only at rest may miss abnormalities.

Keywords: Cardiovascular abnormalities; endovascular procedures; hemodynamics; venous thrombosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Computed tomography venography before thrombolysis (A); after thrombolysis (B); after venous stenting (C).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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