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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2011; 21(01): 24-27
DOI: 10.4103/0971-3026.76050
Abdominal

Case report: Varicosity of the communicating vein between the left renal vein and the left ascending lumbar vein mimicking a renal artery aneurysm: Report of an unusual site of varicose veins and a novel hypothesis to explain its association with abdominal pain

Sandeep G Jakhere
Department of Radiology, B Y L Nair Charitable Hospital and T N Medical College, Mumbai Central, Mumbai, Maharashtra - 400 008, India
,
Deepak A Yadav
Department of Radiology, B Y L Nair Charitable Hospital and T N Medical College, Mumbai Central, Mumbai, Maharashtra - 400 008, India
,
Gorakhnath R Tuplondhe
Department of Radiology, B Y L Nair Charitable Hospital and T N Medical College, Mumbai Central, Mumbai, Maharashtra - 400 008, India
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Abstract

A communicating vein between the left renal vein and the left ascending lumbar vein has only rarely been reported in the imaging literature. There are very few reports of varicosity of this communicating vein. Nonetheless, awareness about this communicating vein is of utmost importance for surgeons performing aortoiliac surgeries and nephrectomies as it may pose technical difficulties during surgery or cause life-threatening retroperitoneal hemorrhage. Varicosity of this venous channel may be mistaken for paraaortic lymphadenopathy, adrenal pseudo-mass, or renal artery aneurysm. We report a case of a patient with varicosity of this communicating vein, which mimicked a left renal artery aneurysm. A novel hypothesis is also proposed to explain the relationship with abdominal pain.

Keywords

Ascending lumbar vein - communicating vein - renal artery - renal vein - varicosity


Publication History

Article published online:
31 July 2021

© 2011. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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