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Case 58 - Persistent left SVC

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2011

By
John Hildebrandt  and
Thomas Hartman
Edited by
Thomas Hartman
Thomas Hartman
Affiliation:
Mayo Clinic, Rochester
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Summary

Imaging description

A persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) is present in 0.3% of a healthy population and approximately 4.4% of patients with congenital heart disease [1]. A left brachiocephalic vein is either very small or absent in 65% of patients with PLSVC [2]. In approximately 10% of cases with a PLSVC, the right SVC will be absent. The CT imaging of a PLSVC is the same in all cases [2, 3], but the presence of the left brachiocephalic vein and right SVC will be variable. A PLSVC is seen as a tubular structure running along the left side of the mediastinum from the region of the origin of the left brachiocephalic vein inferiorly. In approximately 90% of cases, the PLSVC will drain into the coronary sinus (Figures 58.1–58.3). In the other 10%, the PLSVC will drain into the left atrium (Figure 58.4). Absence of the left brachiocephalic vein results in the left upper body veins draining by way of the PLSVC.

Type
Chapter
Information
Pearls and Pitfalls in Thoracic Imaging
Variants and Other Difficult Diagnoses
 , pp. 154 - 157
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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References

Cha, EMKhoury, GHPersistent left superior vena cava. Radiologic and clinical significanceRadiology 1972 103 375CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Webb, WRGamsu, GSpeckman, JMComputed tomography demonstration of mediastinal venous anomaliesAJR Am J Roentgenol 1982 139 157CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huggins, TJLesar, MLFriedman, ACCT appearance of persistent left superior vena cavaJ Comput Assist Tomogr 1982 6 294CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sarodia, BStoller, J.Persistent left superior vena cava: case report and literature reviewRespir Care 2000 45 411Google ScholarPubMed

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