Nutcracker syndrome: symptoms of syncope and hypotension improved following endovascular stenting

• Published in: Vascular 2012-12, Vol.20 (6), p.337-341
• Main Authors: Daily, Ryan, Matteo, Jerry, Loper, Todd, Northup, Martin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abdominal Pain - etiology; Endovascular Procedures - instrumentation; Female; Flank Pain - etiology; Hematuria - etiology; Humans; Hypotension - etiology; Nausea - etiology; Phlebography - methods; Renal Nutcracker Syndrome - complications; Renal Nutcracker Syndrome - diagnosis; Renal Nutcracker Syndrome - therapy; Renal Veins - diagnostic imaging; Stents; Syncope - etiology; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Treatment Outcome; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1708-5381; 1708-539X
• DOI: 10.1258/vasc.2011.cr0320

‘Nutcracker syndrome’ encompasses classical symptoms of hematuria and flank pain resulting from the compression of the left renal vein between the aorta and the superior mesenteric artery. In patients with unexplained left-sided hematuria, flank pain or non-specific abdominal pain, careful interrogation of diagnostic abdominal imaging should be performed to exclude the possibility of external compression on the left renal vein. The patient discussed in this case report is a 19-year-old woman with unilateral hematuria. Her symptoms started 13 months prior with nausea, lower abdominal pain and weight loss. Six months after the nausea began, she started having syncope, sometimes multiple episodes in one day. Syncope is one of the more rarely reported symptoms associated with nutcracker syndrome. As more cases are reported, endovascular repair is becoming an alternative treatment for nutcracker syndrome. The patient was treated with stenting of her left renal vein. At the three-week follow-up, she reported near resolution of nausea and abdominal pain. She had gained four pounds, no longer had gross hematuria and had had no episodes of syncope and her blood pressure had normalized. Endovascular specialists should be aware of the variety of symptoms that can occur with nutcracker syndrome, including syncope. The severity of these symptoms should guide the recommendation for intervention.