Vena Cava

What are the common conditions and disorders that affect the vena cava?

You can get an obstruction in your superior vena cava and inferior vena cava that makes it hard for blood to flow through them. When this happens, you can also call it V体育官网入口 - superior vena cava syndrome or inferior vena cava syndrome, depending on which part of the vena cava has a blockage.

Causes of these obstructions include:

• A tumor, like lung cancer or another type of cancer, that has spread.
• "V体育官网" Blood clots, sometimes from central venous catheters or pacemakers in the superior vena cava.
• A congenital malformation (something that didn’t form right in the uterus).

"VSports手机版" Common signs or symptoms of vena cava conditions

When something is pushing against your superior vena cava or inferior vena cava or blocking blood flow inside them, these symptoms can happen:

Superior vena cava syndrome (obstruction or compression) symptoms

• Swelling in your upper body.
• Shortness of breath.
• Angina.

Symptoms of a blood clot or tumor in your superior vena cava

• Upper body swelling.
• V体育平台登录 - Shortness of breath.

Inferior vena cava blood clot symptoms

• Swelling in your legs.
• Back pain.
• Weight gain.
• Severe leg pain.

Inferior vena cava tumor symptoms

• Pain in your abdomen.
• Leg swelling.
• Weight loss.

Inferior vena cava syndrome (obstruction or compression) symptoms

• Low blood pressure.
• Swelling in your lower body.
• Tachycardia (fast heart rhythm).

Common tests to check the health of the vena cava (V体育2025版)

Your healthcare provider has several ways to get images of your superior vena cava and inferior vena cava, including:

• Chest X-ray (for your superior vena cava).
• Coronary "V体育官网" angiography (for your superior vena cava).
• Ultrasound.
• CT (computed tomography).
• MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).
• Contrast venography or phlebography (rarely used X-ray of your veins).

Common treatments for the vena cava

Your healthcare provider can use similar treatments for problems with your superior vena cava and inferior vena cava. They can:

• Prescribe diuretics or steroids to treat swelling.
• Give you steroids, thrombolytics and anticoagulants to treat obstructions such as blood clots.
• Use a catheter to remove a blood clot.
• Do angioplasty (forcing the blockage to the vein wall) and put in a stent (small metal tube) to treat stenosis (narrowing) from a blood clot.
• Do bypass surgery for a blood clot or tumor.
• Do surgery to remove a tumor.
• Give you chemotherapy or radiation to treat tumors.

If you have a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) with a risk of the blood clot going from your legs or pelvis to your lung (pulmonary embolism), your healthcare provider may put in a vena cava filter to catch blood clots and keep them from going to your lungs.