Identifying partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection in the superior vena cava before pulmonary resection

There are only limited reports on pulmonary resection complicated with partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection. Preoperative partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection was overlooked in approximately 50% of these reports, while most cases of were located on the same side as the pulmonary resection. We examined the prevalence of overlooked partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection and determined appropriate measures to avoid misdiagnosis.

We retrospectively reviewed the records and computed tomography data of consecutive patients who underwent pulmonary resection at the University of Yamanashi Hospital between 2006 and 2019. We re-evaluated the computed tomography images in horizontal and coronal views, focusing on the four common sites of partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection. Further, we conducted a literature review of studies that reported partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection cases.

Among the 1389 patients who underwent pulmonary resection, 1205 were enrolled. There were five partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection cases (0.41%). Two were diagnosed through re-evaluation. The partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection was located between the right upper lobe and the superior vena cava in four patients (80%). All patients underwent left superior segmentectomy, and none experienced postoperative heart failure or hypoxia. In the literature, the incidence rates of partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection observed by computed tomography (0.1-0.25%) were lower than those observed by autopsy (0.62%) and angiography (0.82%).

There may be a considerable number of overlooked partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection cases. Therefore, particularly the superior vena cava should be carefully monitored in preoperative computed tomography examinations.