Life-threatening Wunderlich's syndrome with concurrent clopidogrel use

Abstract

Spontaneous non-traumatic renal haemorrhage, or Wunderlich's syndrome, is a rare but potentially life-threatening event. We present the case of a 63-year-old man on clopidogrel who became haemodynamically unstable as a result of this condition. Angioembolisation revealed the unusual finding of active bleeding from multiple distinct subsegmental renal vessels, for which haemostasis was successfully achieved by coil placement. The patient remains well and with near-normal renal function on follow-up.