Background Effective treatment of upper extremity deep vein thrombosis (UEDVT) is crucial to prevent further complications. Various treatments, including percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy (PMT), catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT), decompression surgery, and venoplasty are suggested for UEDVT. However, no prospective study has yet favored any of these treatments. This study presents a review of our experience with CDT followed by balloon venoplasty in patients with acute primary UEDVT. Methods We enrolled all patients diagnosed with acute UEDVT from January 2020 to June 2021. Subjects with UEDVT due to secondary causes like malignancies, indwelling catheters, or leads were excluded. CDT was performed through brachial vein access, using a perfusion catheter, and rt-PA administration. Balloon venoplasty was performed if the treated segment had severe stenosis >50% after CDT. Patients were followed up at the vein clinic for any signs and symptoms in the upper extremity and lifestyle changes. Follow-up ultrasonography was done 12 months after discharge. Results Twelve patients with a mean age of 41.08 ± 14.0 were included in the study. The mean duration of CDT was 25.00±10.56 hours. After CDT, all patients had more than 50% stenosis, with seven having total occlusion. However, after balloon venoplasty, no patient had significant (more than 50%) stenosis. There was no serious complication after both procedures. Patients were followed up for a mean duration of twelve months after their admission, with a mean time of maintenance anticoagulation was 10.73±5.77 months. Only one patient had recurrent symptoms in his target limb, while the rest were free of symptoms in their treated extremity. No subject developed pulmonary emboli (PE) during admission or the follow-up period. There was no evidence of hospital readmission for any reason. Upper extremity color-doppler sonography of the patients at twelve months after their procedure showed normal venous flow without any significant stenosis in 8 (66.7%), and partially normal flow with patent target vein in 4 (33.3%) patients. Conclusions CDT followed by balloon venoplasty may be an effective treatment for selected patients with acute primary UEDVT, providing desirable long-term results and potentially avoiding the need for decompression surgery in the short or long term.

Neurobrucellosis is an uncommon serious complication of brucellosis. Diagnosis of neurobrucellosis could be difficult due to non-specific clinical and radiological findings. So, in endemic regions, neurobrucellosis should be included in the differential diagnosis list of patients with recent neurological disorders. We report an unusual case of neurobrucellosis with neurologic deficits in the central and peripheral nervous system and MRI lesions in the brainstem, spinal cord, and nerve roots Also, related articles are reviewed in the discussion section.

Background Effective treatment of upper extremity deep vein thrombosis (UEDVT) is crucial to prevent further complications. Various treatments, including percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy (PMT), catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT), decompression surgery, and venoplasty are suggested for UEDVT. However, no prospective study has yet favored any of these treatments. This study presents a review of our experience with CDT followed by balloon venoplasty in patients with acute primary UEDVT. Methods We enrolled all patients diagnosed with acute UEDVT from January 2020 to June 2021. Subjects with UEDVT due to secondary causes like malignancies, indwelling catheters, or leads were excluded. CDT was performed through brachial vein access, using a perfusion catheter, and rt-PA administration. Balloon venoplasty was performed if the treated segment had remaining stenosis after CDT. Patients were followed up at the vein clinic for any signs and symptoms in the upper extremity and lifestyle changes. Follow-up ultrasonography was done 12 months after discharge. Results Twelve patients with a mean age of 41.08 ± 14.0 years were included in the study. The mean duration of CDT was 25.00 ± 10.56 h. After CDT, all patients had remaining occlusions, with seven having more than 50% remaining stenosis. However, after balloon venoplasty, no patient had significant (more than 50%) stenosis. There was no serious complication after both procedures. Patients were followed up for a mean duration of twelve months after their admission, with a mean time of maintenance anticoagulation was 10.73 ± 5.77 months. Only one patient had recurrent symptoms in his target limb which required a decompression surgery, while the rest were free of symptoms in their treated extremity. No subject developed pulmonary emboli (PE) during admission or the follow-up period. There was no evidence of hospital readmission for any reason. Upper extremity color-doppler sonography of the patients at twelve months after their procedure showed normal venous flow without any significant stenosis in 8 (66.7%), and partially normal flow with patent target vein in 4 (33.3%) patients. Conclusions CDT followed by balloon venoplasty may be an effective treatment for selected patients with acute primary UEDVT, providing desirable long-term results and potentially avoiding the need for decompression surgery in the short or long term.