Retrosternal Metastatic Papillary Thyroid Cancer Causing Superior Vena Cava Syndrome: A Very Rare Presentation

Thyroid cancer causing superior vena cava (SVC) syndrome is a very rare clinical entity with only 26 cases reported worldwide. Metastatic thyroid cancer causing SVC syndrome several years following resection of the primary tumor is extremely rare with only 2 cases reported; one of them was of the papillary variety. We report the second case worldwide of metastatic papillary thyroid cancer causing SVC syndrome 2 years after total thyroidectomy of the original tumor in a 62-year-old Indian female pilgrim. Unfortunately, the patient died on the third day of intensive care unit admission. The severity of the clinical condition in addition to the late presentation resulted in a catastrophic outcome, which made all the possible resuscitative efforts very difficult.