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Updated: Nov 8, 2025

Image Acquisition Method for the Sonographic Assessment of the Inferior Vena Cava
Published on: January 13, 2023
Incidental finding of interrupted inferior venacava during minimally invasive cardiac surgery
Subash Sundar Singh1, Shaji Palangadan2, Manish Yadav3
1Department of Cardiac Anaesthesia, Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences, Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
We report a case of 44-year-old female patient with congenital heart disease, ostium secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) with moderate mitral regurgitation for minimally invasive ASD repair along with mitral valve repair. Venous cannulations were performed through right internal jugular vein and right femoral vein (RFV) and arterial cannulation was accomplished through right femoral artery. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) could not visualize venous cannula through RFV. However, cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was initiated and surgery was proceeded. During surgery, patients abdomen became tense and distened, ontable ultrasound examination of abdomen was done after completion of the surgery to rule out hemoperitoneum but was inconclusive, patient was evaluated further under fluoroscopy in cathlab and found to have interrupted inferior vena cava. Postoperative course of the patient was uneventful. We discuss the importance of preoperative evaluation and the role of TEE in placement of cannulas during minimally invasive cardiac surgery.
We report a case of 44-year-old female patient with congenital heart disease, ostium secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) with moderate mitral regurgitation for minimally invasive ASD repair along with mitral valve repair. Venous cannulations were performed through right internal jugular vein and right femoral vein (RFV) and arterial cannulation was accomplished through right femoral artery. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) could not visualize venous cannula through RFV. However, cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was initiated and surgery was proceeded. During surgery, patients abdomen became tense and distened, ontable ultrasound examination of abdomen was done after completion of the surgery to rule out hemoperitoneum but was inconclusive, patient was evaluated further under fluoroscopy in cathlab and found to have interrupted inferior vena cava. Postoperative course of the patient was uneventful. We discuss the importance of preoperative evaluation and the role of TEE in placement of cannulas during minimally invasive cardiac surgery.
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