A hairdresser's painful swollen left leg: artery compresses vein in May–Thurner syndrome

A full blood count showed a haemoglobin concentration of 12·9 g/dL, a white blood cell count of 10·8 × 109 per L, and a thrombocyte count of 235 × 109 per L. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 32 mm/h (normal 0–27). Using catheter-directed thrombolysis with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator the DVT was dissolved. Risk of a DVT is further increased by conditions that raise intra-abdominal or thoracic pressures, pregnancy, pelvic obstruction, right heart failure, prolonged periods of bed rest, standing or sitting, hypercoagulable states, injection of irritating drugs via a left leg cannula, and the presence of a foreign body (eg, a left femoral vein catheter).