Hello doctor, My brother has been having these following symptoms: Rapid heart beat. Severe headaches especially at nights. Pain on the left side of the chest. Occassional nausea. He went for a CT scan and part of the results is, ''A large filling defect is seen within the infrarenal inferior vena cava with no opacifications of the vessel. The vessel is enlarged measuring approximately 25mm in diameter. The visualized osseous structures and lung bases are unremarkable.'' What do these results mean? Please help.
Hi. The findings suggestive by his CT scan report goes in favor of Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) Thrombosis. Assessing the clotting and fibrinolytic systems are required. The investigations required are protein C, protein S, antithrombin III and anticardiolipin studies. The goals of treatment are to manage the primary impact of the deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and the impact of embolization. Medical management can include anticoagulation therapy and thrombolytic agents. He definitely needs further investigations and work up.