A Case of Collateral Circulation Between the Portal and Systemic Veins through the Left Para-umbilical and Left Inferior Epigastric Veins in Man

Abstract

It has been described in a great number of books that a paraumbilical vein often becomes an important collateral pathway when, the circulation in liver is, for any reason, obstructed. There is, however, no paper giving a detailed anatomical description of a well developed para-umbilical vein. The authors in this paper have found a case of such collateral circulation in the body (ca. 50-year-old man) in the dissection room. Macroscopic Appearance * Students of the Tokyo Med. and Dent. University.

A Case Simultaneously Presenting with a Rare Portal Collateral Pathway and Left Gastric Venous Anomaly

“…Persistence of the umbilical vein due to increased portal pressure has been described previously by Kubota et al (1957), whose findings were similar to those of the present investigation.…”

“…Representative examples listed in the textbooks of anatomy include the paraunbilical vein, rectal vein and esophageal veins (Gray, 1973; Walls, 1977). However, only a few opportunities exist to dissect and observe such cases during the dissecting practice (Yamada, 1934;Kubota et aL, 1957;Sakamoto et aL, 1997). Clinically, although there have been reports on the observations of portal collateral routes using imaging diagnostic systems, details of these routes remain unknown (Kokubo et aL, 1990;Tajima et aL, 1992;Takayasu et aL, 1990).…”