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Updated: Feb 25, 2026
Image Acquisition Method for the Sonographic Assessment of the Inferior Vena Cava
Published on: January 13, 2023
Persistent left superior vena cava
Kamil W Tyrak1, Jakub Holda1, Mateusz K Holda1
1Department of Anatomy, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Cracow, Poland.
Abstract:
Persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) is the most common congenital malformation of thoracic venous return and is present in 0.3 to 0.5% of individuals in the general population. This heart specimen was dissected from a 35-year-old male cadaver whose cause of death was determined as non-cardiac. The heart was examined and we found a PLSVC draining into the coronary sinus. The right superior vena cava was present with a small-diameter ostium. An anomalous pulmonary vein pattern was observed; there was a common trunk to the left superior and left inferior pulmonary veins (diameter 17.8 mm) and an additional middle right pulmonary vein (diameter 2.7 mm) with two classic right pulmonary veins. The PLSVC draining into the coronary sinus had led to its enlargement, which could have altered the cardiac haemodynamics by significantly reducing the size of the left atrium and impeding its outflow via the mitral valve.
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