Renal vein injury during percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty in nonspecific aortoarteritis.

Percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty of a right renal artery stenosis in a patient with nonspecific arteritis (Takayasu's arteritis) was performed for the treatment of renovascular hypertension and led to ipsilateral renal vein perforation and massive retroperitoneal bleeding. The mechanism of injury and its relationship to nonspecific arteritis remains obscure. Awareness of this potentially lethal complication is essential because early diagnosis is mandatory for definitive management.