Anomalous subaortic position of the brachiocephalic (innominate) vein: a review of published reports and report of three new cases.

Abstract

Although the malformation in itself seems to be of no functional importance, we assessed its importance in terms of associated conditions and its possible relevance to subsequent operations. Case reports CASE 1This girl died when she was 5 years 11 months old after cerebral ischaemia after attempted surgical correction of tetralogy of Fallot. Postmortem examination of the heart showed usual (solitus) atrialRequests for reprints to Dr Leon M Gerlis,

Anomalous subaortic left brachiocephalic vein in surgical cases and literature review

“…The incidence of ASLBV in patients with CHD was reported as 0.2% in necropsy studies (Gerlis and Ho, 1989), 0.5-0.98% in echocardiogram series (Choi et al, 1990;Curtil et al, 1999), and 1.7% by the computed tomography method (Chen et al, 2005). The prevalence from our report is consistent with that from the previous reports.…”

Anomalous left brachiocephalic vein: important vascular anomaly concomitant with congenital anomalies and heart diseases

“…Unawareness of such anomalies before sternotomy or heart transplantation, could lead to vascular injury, disastrous surgical results and increase the morbidity and mortality [2,7,17]. Particularly in patients with right ventricular outflow tract obstruction, it should be considered in order to decide the plan during surgery [10].…”

Problem in diagnostic imaging: Mediastinal venous anomalies

“…This unusual mediastinal venous anomaly has a recognized association with congenital heart disease, with a reported incidence of 0.2% at autopsy (Gerlis and Ho, 1989) and 0.98% at echocardiography (Choi et al, 1990). It is most commonly seen with tetralogy of Fallot, and ventricular septal defect with pulmonary atresia, both of which show a higher prevalence of associated right aortic arch than is normally seen with these conditions (Choi et al, 1990).…”

“…It was believed to be rare in patients without cardiac malformations (Gerlis and Ho, 1989), but with the increased use of cross-sectional imaging, there are more reports of it (Takada et al, 1992;Fujimoto et al, 1992;Minami et al, 1993). There are three distinct anatomical varieties of the malformation, dependent on the relation of the anomalous vein to the arterial ligament and pulmonary artery (Gerlis and Ho, 1989).…”

“…There are three distinct anatomical varieties of the malformation, dependent on the relation of the anomalous vein to the arterial ligament and pulmonary artery (Gerlis and Ho, 1989). A double left brachiocephalic vein has also been described (Takada et al, 1992) with an anatomically conventional superior branch and anomalous inferior branch coursing below the aortic arch.…”