title: Superior vena cava syndrome in children.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221 005 India.
authors.forename: Vineeta
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Srikanth R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Ambati
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pant
authors.forename: Baldev
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bhatia
keywords: Lymphoma; Superior mediastinal syndrome; Superior vena cava syndrome; Tuberculosis