Bilateral Inferior Vena Cava

Abstract

A REVIEW of the literature shows that developmental variations of the inferior vena cava are relatively common. The most frequent major variation is bilateral vena cava, representing persistence of venous channels of both the right and left sides.¹ According to Gladstone,² some form of doubling of the inferior vena cava, which is often quite asymmetrical, probably occurs in almost 1% of people. A left inferior vena cava, in which the vessel is formed from components of the left rather than the right, is less common, occurring in 0.45% of people. Reports of radiographic demonstration of these morphogenetic variations, however, are infrequent, presumably because inferior vena cavography has not yet come into general use.³ We are presenting our findings in a patient with bilateral and symmetrical inferior vena cava, which is probably a rarer form of the double caval system. Report of a Case A 66-year-old male was