clotted azygous veins
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2012 6:12 pm
I have only heard of three patients with clotted azygous veins. One is a poster here, one posted two weeks ago in this deep vein thrombosis forum ( http://www.dvtforum.com/index.asp?page=2&forumID=17615 ) and one was told to me anecdotally.
It seems to me that a clotted azygous as a result of the procedure is rare, but that there is also no easy way to know the incidence, because the azygous cannot be easily assessed.
All three patients who have had an occluded azygous due to complications of the procedure also report declining health.
My concern for people who have ballooning or stenting done in the azygous would be these three things: that it is an accurate diagnosis of azygous stenosis and not unnecessary treatment; that it is ballooned with an appropriately sized balloon for the size of the azygous vein so as to not risk damage due to oversizing; and that appropriate anticoagulation be prescribed.
Intravascular ultrasound is useful not just in determining what is a stenosis in the azygous, but also in determining what is not a stenosis.
We need our jugulars, and we need our azygous vein.
It seems to me that a clotted azygous as a result of the procedure is rare, but that there is also no easy way to know the incidence, because the azygous cannot be easily assessed.
All three patients who have had an occluded azygous due to complications of the procedure also report declining health.
My concern for people who have ballooning or stenting done in the azygous would be these three things: that it is an accurate diagnosis of azygous stenosis and not unnecessary treatment; that it is ballooned with an appropriately sized balloon for the size of the azygous vein so as to not risk damage due to oversizing; and that appropriate anticoagulation be prescribed.
Intravascular ultrasound is useful not just in determining what is a stenosis in the azygous, but also in determining what is not a stenosis.
We need our jugulars, and we need our azygous vein.