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Inferior Vena Cava System Anomalies: Surgical Implications

  • Kidney Diseases (G Ciancio, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

The inferior vena cava (IVC) system is the major venous collecting blood network of the human body. This structure is formed in a complicated series of developmental stages between the fourth and eighth weeks of intrauterine life. Alterations in the developing process of the IVC system give rise to an array of different congenital variants or developmental anomalies.

Recent Findings

IVC anomalies are uncommon, usually of little physiological consequence, and mostly discovered incidentally during cross-sectional imaging in otherwise healthy individuals. However, they do have implications of relevance to surgeons because they may lead to significant complications during vascular interventional radiology procedures and retroperitoneal surgery when undiagnosed.

Summary

This review synthesizes the current literature pertaining the development and identification of IVC anomalies, highlighting their possible implications for surgical procedures involving this retroperitoneal vessel.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Servicio de Urología, Hospital Central de la Cruz Roja San José y Santa Adela, Universidad Alfonso X el Sabio, Avda. de Reina Victoria, 22-26, 28003, Madrid, Spain

    Javier González

  2. Miami Transplant Institute, Department of Surgery, Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Jeffrey J. Gaynor & Gaetano Ciancio

  3. Servicio de Radiodiagnóstico, Hospital Central de la Cruz Roja San José y Santa Adela, Madrid, Spain

    Luis F. Albéniz

  4. Department of Urology, Miami Transplant Institute, and Department of Surgery, Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Gaetano Ciancio

Authors
  1. Javier González
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  2. Jeffrey J. Gaynor
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  3. Luis F. Albéniz
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  4. Gaetano Ciancio
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Correspondence to Javier González.

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Conflict of Interest

Javier González, Jeffrey J. Gaynor, and Luis F. Albéniz each declare no potential conflicts of interest.

Gaetano Ciancio is a section editor for Current Urology Reports.

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

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Kidney Diseases

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González, J., Gaynor, J.J., Albéniz, L.F. et al. Inferior Vena Cava System Anomalies: Surgical Implications. Curr Urol Rep 18, 10 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11934-017-0658-y

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