The azygos venous system is highly variable in terms of its origin, course, communications, tributaries and termination of the associated veins: this study aimed to classify these anatomical variations. Thirty Thiel-embalmed cadavers aged 48– 98 years (18 female, 12 male) were examined. The vertebral level of termination and diameter of the azygos, hemiazygos, accessory hemiazygos and the left ...

Endoscopic sclerotherapy is widely employed for esophageal variceal hemorrhage. However it has side effects and can aggravate portal hypertension by suppression of portosystemic shunt. The purpose of the present investigation was to study the effect of variceal thrombosis on hepatic venous pressure gradient and azygos blood flow. Eight alcoholic cirrhotic patients with a first variceal hemorrha...

Azygos vein aneurysm is a rare finding with sparse documentation in the medical literature. We present case of large thrombosed azygos and its successful treatment by surgical resection. The size, shape, nature as well symptomatic presentation substantiated management, which we propose safe effective management strategy for similar cases. (AVA) often diagnosed incidentally on chest imaging. Bec...

A case of the scimitar sign due to an anomaly of the right sided pulmonary vein with normal drainage into the left atrium was associated with an azygos continuation of the inferior vena cava. Digital subtraction angiography allows the identification of these rare congenital vascular malformations.

Esophagectomy followed by intrathoracic anastomosis is threatened by leakage which may prove all the more serious that mediastinal contamination is extensive. In the technique presented, the esogastric anastomosis is slipped under the upper mediastinal pleura which is kept intact, after the azygos vein has been ligated and divided. This pleural 'blanket' may act as an efficient barrier against ...

Evaluation of defibrillation threshold is a standard of care during implantation of implantable cardioverter defibrillator. High defibrillation thresholds are often encountered and pose a challenge to electrophysiologists to improve the defibrillation threshold. We describe a case series where defibrillation thresholds were improved after implanting a defibrillation lead in the azygos vein.

In mediastinal dissection through a right thoracotomy, the definition of station 2 is arbitrary because no anatomical landmark indicates the line drawn tangentially to the upper margin of the aortic arch. We have developed a technique to localize it by evaluating the distance between the upper aortic arch and the azygos vein on a CT scan. This distance located intraoperatively above the azygos ...