[Surgical treatment of invasive thymoma with superior vena cava syndrome. 3 case reports].

Three patients with invasive thymoma and superior vena cava syndrome with severe symptoms of cerebral venous hypertension and respiratory obstruction are presented. Two patients showed a type I obstruction and the other had a type II obstruction as defined by Stanford and Doty. In all of them, the tumor was resected and a graft bypass was placed between the left innominate vein and the right appendage. In two patients the grafts were venous and in the other it was a PTFE. All grafts were reinforced with wire rings. The patients improved and the symptoms of the SVCS disappeared, the average time of permeability was 10 months.