Case Report: Incidental finding of an atresia of the inferior vena cava—a challenge for cardiac surgery

Buech, Joscha; Radner, Caroline; Fabry, Thomas; Rutkowski, Simon; Hagl, Christian; Peterss, Sven; Pichlmaier, Maximilian A. (2024): Case Report: Incidental finding of an atresia of the inferior vena cava—a challenge for cardiac surgery. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, 11: 1321685. ISSN 2297-055X

Abstract

Inferior vena cava atresia is a rare and usually asymptomatic condition. However, when these patients undergo cardiac surgery, it can present an unexpected and challenging situation for the surgeon. Specifically, adequate venous drainage during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is a critical issue here and may require an extension of cannulation strategies. Adequate preoperative diagnostics, ideally with imaging modalities such as CT angiography or MRI, are required for optimal surgical planning. Here, we describe a rare case of thoracic ascending aortic aneurysm with concomitant inferior vena cava atresia that was successfully operated on. With adequate preoperative planning, we were able to perform an operation without unforeseen complications with standard initialization of CPB.

• Doc-Type: Article (LMU Hospital)
• Organisational unit (Faculties): 07 Medicine > Medical Center of the University of Munich > Cardiac Surgery Clinic and Polyclinic
• DFG subject classification of scientific disciplines: Life sciences
• DFG: Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) - 491502892