Persistent left sided superior vena cava is a congenital abnormality encountered not uncommonly by the echocardiographer or cardiac radiologist. Recognition of its presence is important in the differential diagnosis of dilatation of the coronary sinus. We discuss the echocardiographic and computed tomography findings of this congenital abnormality, and the implications for clincal practice.

The inferior vena cava, also known as the posterior vena cava, is the large vein that carries de-oxygenated blood from the lower half of the body into the right atrium of the heart. Congenital anomalies of the inferior vena cava result from the persistence of the embryonic venous system. The majority of cases are clinically silent and are diagnosed in routine dissection studies, in retroperiton...

Persistent left superior vena cava with absent right superior vena cava is a very rare venous anomaly and is known as isolated PLSVC. It is usually an asymptomatic anomaly and is mostly detected during difficult central venous access or pacemaker implantation, though it could also be associated with an increased incidence of congenital heart disease, arrhythmias, and conduction disturbances. He...

A 19-year-old male patient presented cyanosis and dyspnoea because of the presence of multiple pulmonary arteriovenous fistulas resulting in oxygen desaturation. The CTA revealed that intestinal and splenic venous blood bypasses the liver and drains into the inferior vena cava. This is the first reported case of hepatopulmonary syndrome caused by congenital extrahepatic portosystemic shunt in w...

The "Scimitar syndrome" is a rare congenital anomaly characterized by combination of partial or complete pulmonary venous return from the right lung to the inferior vena cava either above or below the diaphragm together with hypoplasia of the right lung and sometimes systemic arterial supply to the right lung. In this case, multimodality imaging findings such as the vein draining into the infer...

Complete drainage of the pulmonary veins into the right heart is one of the rarest and most severe congenital cardiac anomalies. The X-ray studies may suggest this diagnosis if pulmonary veins enter either coronary sinus or inferior vena cava. In the case reported, right heart catheterization and angiocardiography were used and the diagnosis of persisent left superior vena cava and partial dire...

The catheter ablation of supraventricular arrhythmias is generically performed via using a trans femoral venous approach through the inferior vena cava (IVC). However, this procedure becomes a subtle issue if there is a congenital or an acquired obstruction of the IVC. Here, we report a very particular case of slow pathway ablation for atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia in a patient w...

Persistent left superior vena cava is the most common congenital venous anomaly of the thoracic venous system, occurring in 0.3% to 0.5% of individuals in the general population. It may remain asymptomatic throughout life and be incidentally found in healthy individuals undergoing vascular procedures such as venous access device placements and endovascular cardiac interventions. Here we present...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Our case report deals with the importance of detailed echocardiographic examination for differential diagnosis of coronary sinus dilation and development of abnormalities of great thoracic veins. CASE PRESENTATION A 49-year-old man underwent transthoracic echocardiography for atypical chest pain. A dilated coronary sinus was found and venous contrast echocardiography ra...