Inability to Utilize Retrograde Cardioplegia due to a Persistent Left Superior Vena Cava

Inability to Utilize Retrograde Cardioplegia due to a Persistent Left Superior Vena Cava

A persistent left superior vena cava is a congenital abnormality that affects a minority of the general population. While this finding is not hemodynamically significant in all patients, failure to recognize the altered anatomy in any of these patients can be consequential during procedures such as central venous catheter placement, pacemaker/defibrillator wire placement, and use of retrograde ...

Persistent Left Superior Vena Cava

Persistent left superior vena cava

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 superio...

A persistent left superior vena cava.

Persistent left superior vena cava is the most common form of anomalous venous drainage involving the superior vena cava, and represents persistence of the left horn of the embryonic sinus venosus, which normally involutes during normal development to become the coronary sinus. Almost always, a persistent left superior vena cava enters the right atrium through the orifice of an enlarged coronar...

Cerebral abscess due to persistent left superior vena cava draining into the left atrium.

A 47-year-old woman with a history of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation presented with seizure. She noted progressive fatigue in the preceding 6 months. The week before admission, she had worsening headaches and increased irritability. On the day of admission, she developed an episode of grand-mal seizure. MRI of the brain revealed a round lesion in the left frontal lobe measuring 11 cm by 15 mm w...