Lack of Compressibility of the Common Femoral Vein: An Unequivocal Sign of Proximal Deep Venous Thrombosis on Duplex Ultrasound?

Abstract

The authors report a case of false positive diagnosis of iliac vein thrombosis on duplex ultrasound.

The misreading of the duplex scan was based on the presence of an incompressible common femoral vein. External compression on the iliac veins, caused by enormous postoperative lymphoceles, was responsible for the false positive diagnosis.