Known as left renal vein entrapment.
Associated with decreased outflow from the left renal vein into the inferior vena cava.
Due to extrinsic left renal vein compression.
Often associated with left renal vein dilation, and medial narrowing.
The nutcracker anatomy is not always associated with clinical symptoms.
The nutcracker anatomy may be a normal variant in some individuals.
Nutcracker syndrome refers to patients with clinical symptoms associated with the morphologic findings.
Implies compression of the left renal vein between the aorta and the superior mesenteric artery, the anterior nutcracker, is the most typical morphological findings.
The anterior nutcracker can also less often be seen, when the third portion of the duodenum courses in front of the left renal vein between the aorta and the superior mesenteric artery.
The anterior nutcracker is similar to and may be seen with the compression of the duodenum by the superior mesenteric artery, known as the superior meseenteric artery syndrome.