The ugly face of deep vein thrombosis: Phlegmasia Cerulea Dolens-Case report

Phlegmasia Cerulea Dolens (PCD), a rare & life-threatening condition caused by a massive deep venous thrombosis that is associated with arterial occlusion caused by the subsequent compartment syndrome.

A 56-year-old male was diagnosed as a case of extensive left femoral DVT & pulmonary embolism. Two days after being managed by systemic thrombolytics & heparin, his condition worsened as he developed cyanosis of the affected limb, compartment syndrome & foot drop so he was referred to our facility for further management. CT venogram showed a thrombosis of the left popliteal vein extending into the left common iliac vein confirming the diagnosis of PCD & May-Turner syndrome. We adopted a limb preserving approach using a pharmacomechanical catheter directed thrombolysis (PCDT). The patient recovered fully with a complete resolution of his foot drop.

Several treatment options have been suggested to improve the outcomes of PCD, but due to the rarity of this condition a gold standard treatment is still controversial. But regardless of the chosen approach, there is an urgent need to decrease the thrombus burden to prevent further adverse sequelae like amputation or even death which can be achieved by using PCDT as it was demonstrated in our case.

Our case shows that a rare entity of DVT as PCD could be a result of improper management of acute proximal DVT in the background of anatomical variabilities & that despite the late presentation of such a rare condition there still a role for a limb preserving approach with endovascular techniques.