Renal artery stenosis on duplex ultrasound due to inferior vena cava filter leg impingement

Abstract

We present a case study of renal artery duplex findings for new onset of hypertension in a young woman with a history of inferior vena cava filter placed a year prior and failed percutaneous retrieval. Duplex ultrasound showed significantly elevated velocities in the mid-right renal artery, consistent with renal artery stenosis. Computed tomography angiography images suggested that a leg from the inferior vena cava filter was impinging on her right renal artery, with perforation through the vena cava possibly into the wall of her duodenum. Open surgical intervention was required to disentangle the filter legs from the wall of the duodenum and relieve impingement on the right renal artery with thrombolysis of clot found within the right renal artery.