Acute superior vena caval thrombosis after central venous catheter removal: successful treatment with thrombolytic therapy.

The use of central venous catheters for the administration of cancer chemotherapy has become commonplace, but a variety of potential complications related to catheter use have been clinically recognized. We report a patient in whom acute superior vena cava thrombosis developed after removal of a central venous catheter used to administer chemotherapy for breast cancer. Prompt clinical recognition and therapy resulted in resolution of the thrombus, both clinically and radiographically.