[Renal vein thrombosis: a complication of the nephrotic syndrome? (author's transl)]

The nephrotic syndrome is complicated by an increased thromboembolic risk. This is related to changes in one or more factors of the Virchow triad (vessel wall, blood flow, coagulation). The hypercoagulability may be enhanced by iatrogenic manipulations as for instance vessel punctures, application of steroids and diuretics. The preferential location of thrombus formation are the veins of the leg, pelvis, kidney, and the cerebral sinuses. In contrast the "primary" renal vein thrombosis has long been considered not as a complication of the nephrotic syndrome but as its cause. In the meantime there have been accumulated histological, experimental and clinical facts showing the nephrotic syndrome causative for the renal vein thrombosis. This is revealed too by our own cases.