Background and objectives: Superior vena cava syndrome results from the obstruction of blood flow through the superior vena cava causing a collection of clinical signs and symptoms including dyspnea, upper limb edema , chest pain and distension of cervical and chest veins. The present study aimed to evaluate the epidemiologic, clinical and pathological characteristics of SVC syndrome in north west of Iran between 2003 and 2007. Materials and methods: A total of 180 cases of SVC syndrome selected for the study. The prevalence of SVC syndrome, sign, symptoms and causes of SVC syndrome were analyzed using SPSS software version 16 via descriptive statistics. Results: From 180 patients with SVC syndrome, 125 were male (69.5%), 55 were female (30.5 %). The mean age of patients were 52.7 ± 18.3 years (male: 51.76 y, female 54.8%). In the majority of patients, super venous syndrome was diagnosed using bronchoscopy and in a few patients, CT guided biopsy and chest X-ray were the main tools of diagnosis. In total, a diagnose of SVC syndrome was made through combining clinical symptoms and paraclinical findings. The commonest cause of SVC syndrome was lung cancer (67.74%) followed by lymphoma (22.58%), other malignancy (3.22%) and tissue diagnosis was not performed in 6.45% of patients. In addition, the underlying pathology of lung cancer was small cell lung cancer (38.9%), squamous cell carcinoma (47.61%) and adenocarcinoma (14.28%). Conclusion:.In contrast to other studies lymphoma and SCC are most common cause of SVC syndrome.
