Thrombosis of the Inferior Vena Cava Due to Hypernephroma

The CASE herein described is reported because of three cardinal points: first, the relative frequency with which dilated abdominal veins due to cirrhosis of the liver were mistaken for those due to obstruction of the inferior vena cava; secondly, the unusual venous thrombosis that extended from the femoral veins through the inferior vena cava to the right auricle of the heart, and lastly, because increased awareness of this conditionmay lead to its more frequent diagnosis. REPORT OF A CASE The patient was a 70 year old white man, first admitted to a hospital on Aug. 27, 1946, with edema of the legs for three weeks. He also had noted occasional pain in the left upper abdominal quadrant for several months. He had had gonorrhea about forty-five years previously and admitted having been a heavy beer drinker until twenty years ago. There were no other pertinent facts disclosed at this time.