Superior Vena Cava Syndrome & Enlarged Thyroid
Enlarged thyroids, usually due to thyroid cancer, are the most common causes of Superior Vena Cava Syndrome , which is the partial blockage of the largest vein in the body, the vena cava. Treatment usually involves surgery.
Other People Are Reading
-
Superior Vena Cava Syndrome
-
Superior Vena Cava Syndrome (SVCS) occurs when part or all of the superior vena cava, the largest vein in the body, is blocked. This can cause the following symptoms: change in voice; confusion; cough; enlargement of the veins in the upper body, particularly those in the arms; headache; light-headedness; shortness of breath; swelling of the arms; swelling of the face; trouble swallowing
-
Causes
-
SVCS can be caused by anything that puts pressure on the walls of the vena cava, this includes anything that might swell organs or tissue in the upper chest, or any cancers in the upper chest. More than 90 percent of cases of SVCS are caused by local cancers, with much of the rest begin attributable to tuberculosis and syphilis. Prior to antibiotics, SVCS was often caused by infections.
Treatment/Diagnosis
-
SVCS is treatable by removing what is causing pressure on the vena cava. This can mean surgery to remove a tumor pressing on the vein. In some cases, the vein itself may need to be surgically opened. In lung cancer patients, onset of SVCS usually means it is too late for any treatment. In any event, SVCS is usually easily diagnosed through the use of X-rays or a CAT scan.
Relationship to Thyroid
-
Enlarged or cancerous thyroids are among the primary causes of SVCS. In patients with goiter or large thyroid tumors, the tumor presses down on the vena cava, this causes the blood flow to be constricted. In cases such as this, the treatment calls for removal of at least the tumor, but in many cases a thyroidectomy is called for. In this procedure, the entire organ is removed, and the function of the thyroid is replaced by drug supplements.
Conclusion
-
Overall the relationship between thyroid growth and SVCS can be summed up as follows: englarged thyroid is a likely cause of SVCS, for which the treatment is likely to be thyroidectomy.
References
- Photo Credit "Foot Surgery" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: ex_magician (Michael (a.k.a. moik) McCullough) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
