Case of double superior vena cava

Abstract

A 23-year-old male patient who had no history of any previous medical illness was noted to have a widened mediastinum on chest X-ray undertaken as part of a routine medical evaluation. A computer tomographic (CT) scan confirmed the widened mediastinum to be due to a double superior vena cava (SVC). No further investigations were undertaken. The patient was noted to be well when re-assessed 3 years later.

Double superior vena cava and anomaly of cardiovascular system with a review of the literature

“…No conclusion has been drawn from evaluation regarding the true incidence of the double superior vena cava (B Singh 2005) 16) . The incidence of the double superior vena cava has been documented by many authors as follows: 0.5% by Adachi (1933) 1) , 0.16% by Bergman RA (1988) 12) , and 0.3% by M. Uemura (2009) 19) .…”

“…B. Singh (2005) 16) has described that the dilated coronary venous sinus makes contrast radiographic findings of the interatrial septum and the space between the ventricles obscure on cardiac angiography. The author has added that possibilities of other congenital anomalies in the heart and an associated shunt between the right cardiac system and the left cardiac system occurring should be considered from the presence of the persistent left superior vena cava.…”

“…There have been no small number of morphological reports discussing the double superior vena cava [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] . The development of procedures for cardiovascular catheterizaton and clinical imaging examinations involving c omputed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has increased the number of these report 20 -24) .…”

Persistent Left Superior Vena Cava Incidentally Recognized Postoperatively After Venous Port Placement

“…Rare anomalies of the SVC mostly comprise left SVC and double SVC, which are reported to have an incidence of 0.3-4.0% (1). Embryology of the vascular system is mostly driven by the descent of the heart from its origin in the neck into the thoracic cavity with caudal rotation towards the left when the right aortic arc is reduced (1,2). In this process, the left and right superior vena cava precursors tend to fuse via development of confluence of the left and right innominate veins (3).…”

Comment on “Case of double superior vena cava”

“…The article by Singh et al (2005) presents a case of double superior vena cava (SVC) in an asymptomatic and otherwise healthy individual with a widened mediastinal image noted on a routine radiological examination. Contrast-enhanced chest CT scan revealed a double superior vena cava (SVC) with a larger left superior vena cava (LSVC).…”