Renal Vein Thrombosis

Key Features

• May complicate sepsis or dehydration in newborns

• May be observed in infants of diabetic mothers

• May be associated with umbilical vein catheterization

• May result from any condition that produces a hypercoagulable state (eg, clotting factor deficiency, systemic lupus erythromatosus, or thrombocytosis)

• Renal vein thrombosis is less common in older children and adolescents.

• Spontaneous renal vein thrombosis has been associated with membranous nephropathy

Clinical Findings

• In newborns, generally characterized by the sudden development of an abdominal mass

• If bilateral, oliguria may be present

• In older children, flank pain, sometimes with a palpable mass, is a common presentation

Diagnosis

• No single laboratory test is diagnostic

• Hematuria usually is present; may occasionally be gross in nature

• Proteinuria is less constant

• Thrombocytopenia may be found in newborn, but it is rare in older children

• Ultrasonography and Doppler flow studies confirms diagnosis

Treatment

• Anticoagulation with heparin is treatment of choice