Endovascular treatment of a Right Internal Jugular Vein occlusion in a hemodialysis patient with severe neurological symptomatology

Abstract

In the last decade, Internal Jugular Vein (IJV) obstructive disease has been gaining increasing attention due to different confounding symptoms that impair patients’ quality of life and cannot be explained by other established causes. The most common clinical symptoms associated with IJV stenosis are tinnitus and sleep disturbances (60.5%), headache (48.8%), visual disturbances (39.5%), hearing disorders (39.5%) and anxiety or depression (37.5%). We report a complex case of a woman with a wide range of severe neurological inexplicable disorders. Using Duplex Ultrasound, an IJV occlusion was successfully diagnosed and the patient was then treated using endovascular techniques. IJVs occlusion and outflow alteration were detected by the means of Duplex Ultrasound (DUS) demonstrating the need of a carefully assessment of neck vessels in patients with drug-resistant neurological symptomatology as headache, tinnitus and sleep disturbances.