Korean Circ J.  2008 Nov;38(11):618-621. 10.4070/kcj.2008.38.11.618.

Massive Pulmonary Thromboembolism Associated With Renal Vein Thrombosis While Using Oral Contraceptives

• Kang GH
• Kim SG
• Lee HY
• Kim JJ
• Park H
• Baik NN
• Byun YS
• Lee BK

• KMID: 2225711
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4070/kcj.2008.38.11.618

Abstract

Pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) originating from a renal vein thrombosis (RVT) is very rare, especially in relatively healthy young women. The patient described herein presented with a syncope-associated massive PTE. She was previously healthy, except for termination of an ectopic pregnancy with methotrexate 4 months before. The only medication she was taking was an oral contraceptive (OC), which was started 3 months before the PTE. She had no family history of venous thromboembolism (VTE) or any other underlying risk factors. We report the case of a woman who had a PTE originating from a RVT associated with OC use after an ectopic pregnancy.

Keyword

Pulmonary embolism; Thrombosis; Renal veins; Oral contraceptives

MeSH Terms

Contraceptives, Oral
Female
Humans
Methotrexate
Pregnancy
Pregnancy, Ectopic
Pulmonary Embolism
Renal Veins
Risk Factors
Thrombosis
Venous Thromboembolism
Contraceptives, Oral
Methotrexate

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Spiral chest computed tomography showed massive thrombi burden in the both main pulmonary arteries (arrow).

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  Fig. 2 Abdominal computed tomography showed a huge thrombus (arrow) in the left renal vein (A) at the time of diagnosis. Twenty days after thrombolysis and anticoagulation, the size of the thrombus was much regressed (B), and eventually, the thrombus had resolved 50 days after therapy (C).

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