drsclafani wrote:
It seems to me like the questions are slowing down greatly. Should I consider this a success?
but perhaps i should branch out to other media....
the treatment starategy of thrombosis depends upon
1. clinical effects
2. location of the thrombus
3. whether thrombus is occlusive or not
4. how old the thrombus is
5.how long the thrombosis is
6. whether there is room to manipulate catheters above and below the thrombus
7. whether there is an inherent coagulopathy
8. what caused the thrombus
9. what was the prognosis for the vein before the thrombosis
10. what are the risks of the intervention
as you can see this is going to be a long discussion.
Lets see if anyone is reading.
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1.The patient had only improvements for one week post-op. Now she is in the pre-op condition, plus pain in the thrombus area.
So we could say that the thrombosis has worsed her condition. She went from clinical improvement BACK to her previous condition. To me that is a clinical deterioration and increase in pain. I would manage the pain with whatever analgesic works. Ideally, I would want to diagnose why she deteriorated as soon as possible. While many patients either restenose or have loss of placebo effect, or thrombose. I want to diagnose a thrombosis as soon as possible because time is vein. The longer the duration of the thrombosis, the more damage to the vein, the more organized therombus, the less likely that it can be dissolved, catheterized, lumen restored.
I direct all my patients to get an compression ultrasound of the neck veins within one week of completion of anticoagulation to look for early thrombus. I think this is far more important than a three month Zamboni protocol ultrasound to look for CCSVI. I now skip the three month and rely upon a six month Zamboni ultrasound.
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2.Left jugular
I am not surprised. it seems that the left IJV is far more commonly undergoes thrombosis. Perhaps it is the angle of the axis of the balloon and the vein itself that increases the risk. I wish i could predict why this happens. It is difficult to enter the left jugular vein from below: That makes it harder to catheterize the thrombosed left IJV.
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3.Rather occlusive
occlusion is bad because it stimulates more thrombus. as long as there is flow. the opportunities to catheterize are greater. Also flow in the vein means that part of the wall of the vein is receiving blood flow and that intima has a greater chance to survive. When there is sufficient thrombus to stop flow, then the intimal layer loses its oxygen delivery and dies. This bodes poorly for re-endothelialization since intima creeps from existing cells to cover the denuded segment.
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4.Two months old
That clot is getting organized and hard. the chances to dissolve it are quickly disappearing. The harder the clot, the more difficult it will be to get a catheter to traverse the clot.
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5 and 6.Unknown
the length of clot and whether the clot has extended up to the top of the neck are important. if the clot extends up the entire vein, it is more difficult to clear the clot. The bulk of clot means more difficulty in aspirating, dissolving or fragmenting the clot If the clot extens up too high in the neck, the ability to perform rendevous is more difficult.
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7.Negative
are we sure? Was she tested for Leiden factor,Protein S and C deficiencies, antiphopholipid syndrome. . Thrombosis does not only come because of the angioplasty alone.
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8.Unknown (overdilation?)
as we said, there are too large a balloon? Did balloon rupture? was there a dissection? Was patient given anticoagulation during procedure? how many times was balloon inflated? for how long?
was patient given anticoagulation after the procedure? what type, how long?
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9.There was a valve issue, i guess that the prognosis was good
That makes sense. it would seem that the vein is worth trying to salvage. If it had been a long hypoplasia, it might not have much value. and attempts to recanalize might have been fruitless and have unnecessary risks. possibly there are large collateral veins that drain away from the jugular vein.
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10.Well, Doctor S, we all listen!
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