A Surgical Approach to Retrieval of Inferior Vena Cava Filter: A Difficult Case of Transcatheter Recovery

Abstract

A 66-year-old male patient was referred to our hospital for suspected inferior vena cava (IVC) perforation. He had a history of lower left extremity swelling; a previous angiography revealed a thrombus from the left iliac vein to the femoral vein. Since he was diagnosed with central deep vein thrombosis, an IVC filter was inserted at the previous facility. The thrombus disappeared while the patient was on anticoagulant treatment. The previous cardiologist tried to retrieve the IVC filter; however, due to the suspected IVC perforation, he was referred to our facility. We thoroughly examined the filter structure before its surgical retrieval.