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There are more anatomical variants in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in our philosophy: the precaval left renal artery

  • ABDOMINAL RADIOLOGY
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Abstract

Aim

To describe the CT findings in eight patients with left-sided inferior vena cava (IVC) in whom the left renal artery presented a precaval course (pLRA).

Materials and methods

We searched the teaching files of six radiology departments for patients with pLRAs. Eight patients were found, and the available imaging studies and clinical histories were reviewed. Associated vascular and renal anomalies were noted.

Results

No patient had been examined for problems related to the vascular anomaly found. Four had a double IVC and two a solitary left IVC; in all, the left-sided IVCs had hemiazygos continuation. One patient had situs viscerum inversus. In one case, there was a left kidney in left iliac fossa.

Conclusion

Although rare and probably overlooked, a pLRAs can be encountered in patients with situs viscerum inversus or presenting a left-sided IVC with hemiazygos continuation. These vessels can cause technical problems during surgery at the left renal hilum and should be specifically searched for in patients with vascular anomalies.

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Funding

This study has received no funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Radiologia d’Urgenza, AOU IRCCS San Martino IST, Genoa, Italy

    Enrico Capaccio

  2. Department of Radiology, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy

    Michele Bertolotto

  3. Department of Radiology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Policlinico A. Gemelli, Rome, Italy

    Andrea Paladini

  4. Diagnostica per Immagini Ospedaliera, Ospedale Evangelico Internazionale, presidio ospedaliero di Voltri, Genoa, Italy

    Giulio Cecchini

  5. Department of Radiology, Univ Med Pharm “Iuliu Hatieganu”, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Simona Manole & Sorin Dudea

  6. Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey

    Mustafa Secil

  7. Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), Radiology Section, University of Genoa, Radiologia d’Urgenza, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino IST, Largo R. Benzi, 10, 16132, Genoa, Italy

    Lorenzo E. Derchi

Authors
  1. Enrico Capaccio
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  2. Michele Bertolotto
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  3. Andrea Paladini
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  4. Giulio Cecchini
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  5. Simona Manole
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  6. Sorin Dudea
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  7. Mustafa Secil
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  8. Lorenzo E. Derchi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lorenzo E. Derchi.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

This study was approved, and the need for informed consent was waived by the ethics committee of the institution of the corresponding author (335REG2014).

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Cite this article

Capaccio, E., Bertolotto, M., Paladini, A. et al. There are more anatomical variants in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in our philosophy: the precaval left renal artery. Radiol med 124, 445–449 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11547-019-00991-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11547-019-00991-4

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