Comparison of clinical outcomes of pharmaco-mechanical thrombectomy in iliac vein thrombosis with and without May-Thurner syndrome

BACKGROUND: May-Thurner syndrome (MTS) has a different etiology from that of general deep vein thrombosis (DVT). However, few clinical comparisons of MTS-induced and non-MTS-induced DVT have been reported. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical results of pharmaco-mechanical thrombectomy (PMT) in DVT with and without MTS. METHODS: Forty-seven iliac vein thrombosis patients treated with PMT between January 2008 and December 2013 were enrolled. 25 patients had DVT with MTS and 22 patients had iliac vein DVT without MTS. We retrospectively reviewed medical records and analyzed mid-term patencies and post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) occurrence by Villalta Score. RESULTS: The median follow-up period was 48.4 (36~92) months. A venous stent was inserted in the iliac vein in all MTS patients. One-/two-/three-year primary patencies in the non-MTS group were 77.3% (N.=17) for all three years in the non-MTS group and were 96.0% (N.=24), 83.1% (N.=22), and 83.1% (N.=22) in the MTS group for years 1/2/3, respectively. One-/two-/three-year secondary patencies were 90.9% (N.=20) for all three years in the non-MTS group and were 96.0% (N.=24), 91.4% (N.=23), and 91.4% (N.=23) in the MTS group, respectively. One-, two-, and three-year Villalta Scores were 4.3, 3.9, and 3.4, respectively, in the non-MTS group, and 3.8, 3.7, and 4.0, respectively, in the MTS group. Primary and secondary patency and Villalta Score were not significantly different between the MTS and non-MTS groups. CONCLUSIONS: Although MTS and DVT have different etiologies, clinical results for both diseases using PMT were not significantly different. Therefore, PMT can be offered as an acceptable initial therapy in DVT patients with and without MTS.