The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
2022 , Vol 64 , Num 5
The anomalous drainage of the inferior vena cava into the left atrium
Atakan Atalay 1 ,Ata Niyazi Ecevit 1
1 Department of Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery, Ankara City Hospital, Ankara, Türkiye
DOI :
10.24953/turkjped.2021.4320
Background. Anomalies in systemic venous return most commonly involve a persistent left supe-rior vena
cava draining into the left atrium. Anomalous drainage of the inferior vena cava (IVC) into the left atrium is a
rare congenital vascular disorder. The diagnosis was confirmed as anoma-lous drainage of the right superior
pulmonary vein and large atrial septal defect following echo-cardiography. Anomalous drainage of the inferior
vena cave was confirmed with computed tomog-raphy (CT). We report a rare combination of drainage of the
inferior vena cava associated with atrial septal defect (ASD) and partial anomalous pulmonary venous return.
Case. A 14-year-old girl was referred to our hospital for the evaluation of palpitations, hypoxia, exertional
dyspnea, and cyanosis. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) revealed a large sinus venosus ASD and
anomalous right superior pulmonary venous return. A cardiac CT demonstrated IVC drainage to the left atrium
and an anomalous right superior pulmonary vein draining into the right atrium.
Conclusions. In older patients with cyanosis, further imaging methods together with TTE will be useful in
detecting additional cardiac anomalies. Patients with inferior vena cava opening to the left atrium are different
from caval type ASD`s and should be surgically repaired using a patch. Corrective surgery involves repositioning
of the interatrial septum via a patch.
Keywords :
inferior vena cava, left atrium, anomalous pulmonary venous drainage
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