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Case Reports
. 2022 Jan 18;17(3):983-986.
doi: 10.1016/j.radcr.2022.01.003. eCollection 2022 Mar.

Inflammatory bowel disease causing retroperitoneal varicosity mimicking a renal artery aneurysm: A novel case report and literature review

Areez Shafqat  1 , Shameel Shafqat  2 , Belal Nedal Sabbah  1 , Abdullah Shaik  1 , Wael Khalil Alfehaid  3 , Syed Shafqat Ul Islam  3
Affiliations
Case Reports

Inflammatory bowel disease causing retroperitoneal varicosity mimicking a renal artery aneurysm: A novel case report and literature review

Areez Shafqat et al. Radiol Case Rep. .

Erratum in

Abstract

A 17-year-old female presented to our hospital complaining of bloody diarrhea 4-6 times per day for the past month. She was a known case of inflammatory bowel disease noncompliant to her medications. Abdominal computed tomography revealed an unusually dilated mass in the retroperitoneum at L2 vertebral level connecting the lumbar and left renal veins. The renal artery was visualized separately, and a diagnosis of communicating vein varicosity was made. This lesion can be misleading on imaging, hence our aim to disseminate our findings to practicing radiologists. The differential diagnosis of these lesions include retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy, renal artery aneurysms, and testicular cancers causing retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy. To our knowledge, this is the first case to be reported in association with inflammatory bowel disease, perhaps providing a novel insight into the pathogenesis of this lesion that has not been considered in the contemporary literature.

Keywords: Abdominal imaging; Inflammatory bowel disease; Retroperitoneal mass; Retroperitoneal surgery; Varicosity.

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Figures

Fig 1
Fig. 1
Coronal reconstructed MIP image (venous phase study) shows a dilated vascular channel in the left paravertebral region at L2 level (arrow).
Fig 2
Fig. 2
Sagittal reconstructed MIP images (venous phase study) reveal left paravertebral vascular dilatation (yellow arrow) which is connected to the vertebral venous plexus (green arrow).
Fig 2
Fig. 2
Sagittal reconstructed MIP images (venous phase study) reveal left paravertebral vascular dilatation (yellow arrow) which is connected to the vertebral venous plexus (green arrow).
Fig 3
Fig. 3
Axial oblique reconstructed MIP image (venous phase study) shows dilated left ascending paravertebral vein draining into the left renal vein (arrow).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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