Use of a metallic stent for relief of symptoms caused by superior vena caval obstruction in a patient with advanced cancer: A case report

This report describes the insertion of a metallic stent in the superior ven a cava to relieve the symptoms of malignant superior vena caval obstruction in a 75-year-old woman with far-advanced lung cancer in whom other methods of symptom control had been ineffective. Her symptoms were quickly relieve d try insertion of the stent. She died 1 month following the procedure, wit hout recurrence of the symptoms. The technical aspects of the the procedure and the issues affecting the clinical decision-making process in this case are discussed. J Pain Symptom Manage 1999;18:56-60. (C) U.S. Cancer Pain R elief Committee, 1999.