Persistence of left superior vena cava.

Persistence of a left superior vena cava is a congenital anomaly of considerable interest but by itself exerts no apparent adverse affect on cardiac function. It may occur as an isolated lesion but more often it is associated with many congenital cardiac anomalies. Heretofore it could only be discovered at autopsy or cadaver dissection, but angiocardiography and cardiac catheterization have made possible its recognition during life. This report is a summary of the findings of 11 cases detected by these methods at this center. Embryology