PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - V Davutoglu AU - C Yildirim AU - N Gunay AU - S Turkmen TI - Renal infarction mimicking renal colic in patient with a prosthetic aortic valve AID - 10.1136/emj.2003.011692 DP - 2005 Aug 01 TA - Emergency Medicine Journal PG - 595--596 VI - 22 IP - 8 4099 - http://emj.bmj.com/content/22/8/595.short 4100 - http://emj.bmj.com/content/22/8/595.full SO - Emerg Med J2005 Aug 01; 22 AB - A 31 year old man with prosthetic aortic valve replacement presented with sudden onset of colic right flank pain. Analysis of the urine revealed haematuria, and the international normalised ratio was suboptimal. The patient was misdiagnosed as having ureteral colic. On the second day, an ultrasound showed no signs of obstructive uropathy, and there was no evidence of absent function on intravenous pyelogram. Computed tomography with contrast agent was performed and revealed a right renal infarction. Renal angiography demonstrated total occlusion of the right renal artery. Fibrinolytic therapy and angioplasty were unsuccessful. To our knowledge, aortic prosthetic valve thrombus as a source of renal artery embolism mimicking renal colic has not been reported previously. This case underlines the importance of renal colic as a manifestation of renal infarction in patients with prosthetic valves and the need for a high index of suspicion of renal embolism.