Clinical course of 52 patients with axillary and/or subclavian vein thrombosis was reviewed. In the author's opinion, up to the present time we have no evidence of strain in the pathogenesis of this topographic vein thrombosis. The term Paget-Schrötter syndrome can be used when a thrombus is present, as these authors have suggested. With regard to the patients whose clinical picture is supported by an extrinsic compression on the venous trunks, another syndrome must be considered, such as the thoracic outlet syndrome. For the determination of a clinically suspected deep venous thrombosis, phlebography is the gold standard. The optimal treatment for the axillary-subclavian venous occlusion remains to be established, but the anticoagulant therapy has the preference. The efficacy of in situ thrombolytic effect is contested in medical publications. A direct surgical access for thrombectomy can be made only under special conditions.
venous thrombosis; thoracic outlet syndrome; phlebography
