Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Three-Dimensional Echocardiographic Method for the Visualization and Assessment of Specific Parameters of the Pulmonary Veins
Published on: October 28, 2020
Right superior vena cava draining into the left atrium
Giulio Calcagni1, Alain Batisse, Pascal Vouhé
1Department of Paediatric Cardiology, Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades, University René Descartes-Paris 5, Paris, France.
Abstract:
The right superior vena cava draining into the left atrium is a rare malformation causing cyanosis and clubbing in patients in whom no other signs of congenital heart defect are present. Diagnosis may be difficult as cyanosis may be mild and the anomaly is not always easily detectable by echocardiography. For this reason we report a 13-month-old male in whom we confirmed the clinical and echocardiographic suspicion of anomalous drainage of the right superior vena cava using multidetector CT. This allowed successful surgical reconnection of the right superior vena cava to the right atrium.
Related Concept Videos
Overview of Systemic Veins
The coronary sinus, the heart's principal vein, resides in the coronary sulcus on the heart's posterior aspect. This broad venous channel receives nearly all venous blood from the myocardium, the heart muscle. It is fed by three primary veins: the great cardiac vein, the middle...
Overview of Systemic Arteries
Systemic circulation is the part of the cardiovascular system that carries oxygenated blood away from the heart to the body's tissues and returns deoxygenated blood back to the heart.
Coronary Circulation
Coronary circulation begins at the base of the aorta, where two main arteries arise—the left and right coronary arteries. These arteries encircle the heart in the coronary sulcus and supply the...
Veins of Thorax
The azygos vein, positioned just right of the midline and anterior to the vertebral column, begins at the junction of the right ascending lumbar and subcostal veins, terminating in the superior vena cava. This vein drains blood from the right side of the thoracic wall, thoracic viscera, and posterior abdominal wall.
The...
Veins of the Abdomen and Pelvis
The inferior vena cava is fed by numerous smaller veins. The lumbar veins, for instance, drain the posterior abdominal wall, emptying both directly into the inferior vena cava and into the...
Lymphatic Vessels and Lymph Transport
This one-way system allows fluids, solutes, and even pathogens to enter but prevents their return to the intercellular spaces.

