ABSTRACT
The initial paper on superior vena caval (SVC) obstruction was reported in 1757 by
William Hunter in a case caused by a syphilitic aortic aneurysm (1). Presently, the most
common cause of this syndrome is malignancy (80-90% of presentations) (2). The most
frequent reported malignancy causing this syndrome is bronchogenic cancer; however
many other types of mediastinal neoplasms have also been cited to cause this syndrome
including lymphomas, thymomas, teratomas, germ cell tumors, metastatic tumors etc.
