Treatment of superior vena cava thrombosis with recombinant tissue type plasminogen activator.

Thrombotic occlusion of the superior vena cava is an uncommon but serious complication of chronic indwelling venous catheters. Several reports have shown thrombolytic therapy with intravenous streptokinase or urokinase to be effective in the treatment of this condition. We report a case of superior vena cava thrombosis in a 53-year-old woman receiving chemotherapy for breast carcinoma through a subcutaneously implanted venous access catheter who was successfully treated with peripheral infusion of recombinant tissue type plasminogen activator (rtPA).