May-Thurner Syndrome Presenting With Venous Claudication

More than half of patients who present with left-sided iliac vein obstruction have an underlying iliocaval compression syndrome caused by anatomic compression of the left common iliac vein by the overlying right common iliac artery. Because young women are particularly at risk for this condition, commonly referred to as May-Thurner syndrome, suspicion should increase for female patients presenting with iliofemoral obstruction following prolonged bed rest or presenting postpartum. Symptoms are variable, depending on the chronicity of the disease and available collateral circulation, and range from edema to claudication to phlegmasia cerulea dolens from progressive or acute obstruction. The following is a case study of a patient who presented with severe venous claudication caused by postpartum occlusion of her left external iliac vein. Her left common iliac vein was found to be chronically occluded due to iliocaval compression.