Case of unilateral leg swelling: a DVT mimic

Abstract

A 68-year-old woman with known metastatic renal cell carcinoma presented with an acutely swollen right leg. In between the two sessions of palliative radiotherapy to the right hip, she also had right hip modified Harrington procedure for tumour resection with hip replacement. Initial clinical evaluation raised the suspicion of right leg deep vein thrombosis (DVT). However, DVT was excluded and further investigations revealed stenosis of the right external and common iliac veins, likely secondary to radiotherapy.