Effect of a dedicated inferior vena cava filter retrieval program on retrieval rates and number of patients lost to follow-up

Inferior Vena Cava Filters: Aligning Practice With Evidence to Improve Patient Outcomes

“…There are two categories of IVC filters, permanent or temporary/retrievable, both have been developed in an attempt to reduce the sequela of a PE. An IVC filter that can later be retrieved versus a permanent one is typically placed in patients who require temporary prophylactic PE prevention or are deemed to have short-term contraindications to AC (Salei et al, 2020). Retrievable IVC filters are designed differently than permanent filters and because of that, have been associated with a higher incidence of adverse outcomes with prolonged dwell times.…”

“…Common adverse events related to prolonged filter dwell times include caval perforation, iliocaval thrombosis, organ penetration, migration, and fracture of filter strut (Dowell et al, 2017;Salei et al, 2020). Moreover, the longer the retrievable filter remains in place, the more difficult and less likely its successful retrieval will be without advanced techniques (Desai et al, 2017).…”

Application of Deep Learning to IVC Filter Detection from CT Scans

“…However, some patients cannot tolerate anticoagulation. In these cases, the insertion of a IVCF is recommended to reduce the risk of a pulmonary embolism [ 1 , 2 ]. They are a second-line intervention as they do not treat an existing VTE and instead act as prevention against a pulmonary embolism.…”

“…Retrieval of IVCF is important to avoid potential long-term complications that may arise. These complications include filter migration, caval thrombosis, filter fracture and caval penetration [ 2 , 9 , 10 ]. The risk of these complications occurring increases with longer dwell times [ 2 , 10 ].…”

“…These complications include filter migration, caval thrombosis, filter fracture and caval penetration [ 2 , 9 , 10 ]. The risk of these complications occurring increases with longer dwell times [ 2 , 10 ]. However, the study in [ 4 ] also suggested that “loss to follow-up” or discontinued care and lack of a tracking program account for at least 20% of the filters that were not retrieved.…”