Tubular Calcified SVC Thrombus Mimicking Retained Catheter: Critical Insights from Multimodal Imaging.

A 59-year-old female with a history of hypertension presented with intermittent palpitations and chest tightness for 1 year underwent bioprosthetic aortic and mitral valve replacement for severe mitral and moderate aortic regurgitation. On postoperative day 7, she developed fever (38.4 °C) and leukocytosis (12.6 × 109/L); sputum culture grew Pseudomonas aeruginosa (sensitive to piperacillin/tazobactam). Chest non-contrast CT showed a 341 HU tubular hyperdense lesion in the superior vena cava (SVC), initially suspected to be a retained catheter (Figure A; Cover images).