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Left-sided inferior vena cava

Case contributed by Ammar Haouimi
Diagnosis certain

Presentation

Abdominal pain. Incidental finding on abdominal CT.

Patient Data

Age: 50 years
Gender: Female

Left-sided inferior vena cava (IVC), ends at left renal vein then crosses the midline anterior to the abdominal aorta and posterior to the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) to join the normal pre-hepatic segment of IVC. 

Small nodular lesion of the segment 1 of the liver (25 mm) with progressive discontinuous, peripheral enhancement and almost complete fill-in on delayed images (known as hemangioma).

Case Discussion

CT features of left-sided inferior vena cava (IVC), incidental finding.

Left-sided IVC (also known as transposition of inferior vena cava) refers to a variant course of the inferior vena cava and is considered the most common anomaly of IVC due to persistence of the left supracardinal vein.

It is important to mention this variant course of the IVC in the radiological report for the following reasons:

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