All issues > Volume 42(11); 1999

Case Report

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1999;42(11):1604-1609. Published online November 15, 1999.

A Case of Persistent Left Superior Vena Cava Detected on Fetal Echocardiography

Jin J Lee¹, Young-Yoo YY Kim¹, Youn-Soo YS Lee², Jong-Chul JC Shin³, Jong-Wan JW Kim¹, Chung-Sik CS Chun¹, Kyung-Tai KT Whang¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
²Department of Pathology, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
³Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence Jong-Wan JW Kim ,Email: 1

Abstract

We experienced a case of persistent left superior vena cava draining into the common atrium in a fetus of 26-year-old primigravida. Persistent left superior vena cava is derived from the left cardinal vein. This anomalous vessel usually drains into the right atrium via the coronary sinus and has no physiologic significance. Much less frequently, the left superior vena cava drains directly into the left atrium and it is associated with complex heart anomalies such as atrial septal defect, absence of coronary sinus, double outlet right ventricle, transposition of great arteries and asplenia syndrome. Fetal echocardiography showed an abnormal vessel draining into common atrium in a fetus with complex heart anomalies. It had a different direction from right superior vena cava or pulmonary veins in its traveling. We report a case with autosy findings.

Keywords :Persistent left superior vena cava, Fetal echocardiography