Local thrombolytic therapy for axillary-subclavian vein thrombosis.

Thrombosis of the axillary-subclavian vein can be primary and secondary. The case histories of three patients with spontaneous idiopathic thrombosis of the axillary vein are presented. Successful treatment with low-dose local streptokinase infusion could be confirmed by daily venography. Instead of weeks of heparine infusions, the patients could leave the hospital after a couple of days (range 10 to 12 days), long-term follow-up (4 months) showed no recurrence.