Renal Vein Thrombosis

Renal vein thrombosis is a blood clot in the renal vein, which is the main vein that carries blood away from your kidneys.

• Renal vein thrombosis can cause kidney damage

• One or both of your kidneys may be affected

• Symptoms include pain in the chest, back, and hips, and urinating (peeing) less

• Doctors have you take medicine to break down the clot

Renal vein thrombosis is usually caused by:

• Certain chronic kidney diseases such as nephrotic syndrome

Other causes include:

• Kidney cancer

• Diseases that cause blood clots

• Lupus

• Sickle cell disease

• Diabetes

• Taking estrogen such as in female hormone therapy or birth control pills

• Amyloidosis

You usually don't have any symptoms unless you get kidney failure. Symptoms of kidney failure include:

• Feeling weak and tired

• Feeling sick to your stomach

• Being less hungry than usual

• Itching

• Feeling sleepy or confused

If the thrombosis was caused by a general increase in blood clotting, you may have symptoms of blood clots in other organs, such as in your:

• Lungs: Chest pain and shortness of breath

• Brain: Symptoms of a stroke, such as weakness and confusion

• Legs: Swelling and pain in a leg

To find out if you have renal vein thrombosis, doctors may do:

• Magnetic resonance angiography (a type of MRI that focuses on your blood vessels)

• Computed tomography angiography (a type of CT scan that focuses on your blood vessels)

• Ultrasound

Doctors will also do blood and urine tests to look for signs of kidney damage and for other causes of thrombosis.

Doctors treat whatever caused the renal vein thrombosis. They'll usually also give you:

• Anticoagulants (blood-thinning medicine)

Sometimes they'll remove the clot from the kidney vein using a catheter or give you drugs that can break down the clot.