Description

This video covers the Inferior Vena Cava (IVC), its anatomical course, tributaries, and clinical significance.

1. Topography of the Inferior Vena Cava

• Largest vein in the human body.
• Drains blood from the lower half of the body.
• No valves.
• Lies on the right side of the abdominal aorta.
• Forms the right sagittal groove on the liver.
• Passes through the caval opening of the diaphragm at T8.

2. Visceral Tributaries

• Hepatic Veins (Venae Hepaticae):
  • Right Hepatic Vein
  • Intermediate Hepatic Vein
  • Left Hepatic Vein
• Right Suprarenal Vein (Vena Suprarenalis Dextra)
• Left Renal Vein (Vena Renalis Sinistra)
  • Left Suprarenal Vein
  • Left Testicular Vein / Left Ovarian Vein
• Right Renal Vein (Vena Renalis Dexter)
• Right Testicular Vein / Right Ovarian Vein
  • Genital tributaries drain the Pampiniform Plexus (Plexus Pampiniformis).

3. Parietal Tributaries

• Lumbar Veins (Venae Lumbales)
  • Communicate with:
    • External and Internal Vertebral Venous Plexuses
    • Ascending Lumbar Veins (Vena Lumbalis Ascendens)
• Inferior Phrenic Veins (Venae Phrenicae Inferiores)

4. Clinical Relevance

• IVC Thrombosis: Can lead to lower limb edema and collateral circulation formation.
• IVC Compression: Common in pregnancy due to uterus expansion, leading to supine hypotension syndrome.
• Nutcracker Syndrome: Compression of the left renal vein between the aorta and superior mesenteric artery, causing hematuria and left flank pain.

Sources Used:

• Memorix Anatomy (2nd Edition) – Hudák Radovan, Kachlík David, Volný Ondřej.
• Complete Anatomy by 3D4Medical.
• Biorender.
• University Notes and Lectures.

Transcript

Introduction
0:03
Now that we’re done with the superior vena cava,
0:06
let’s go ahead and cover the anatomy of the inferior vena cava
0:09
So in this video, we’re gonna cover topography. The visceral tributaries
0:14
And the parietal tributaries of it So let’s now start with the Topography.
Topography of Inferior Vena Cava
0:19
The inferior Vena Cava is the largest vein in the human body.
0:23
It collects blood from the lower half of the body. So here’s the body.
0:28
Here’s the diaphragm And this is where this vein mainly drains.
0:35
And lastly, it has no valves. Veins usually have valves to prevent the backflow of blood.
0:41
The inferior vena cava, similar to some other large veins of the body, doesn’t have any valves.
0:47
Alright. So the inferior vena cava starts at the junction
0:50
of the right and left common iliac veins at the level of L5. So when the common iliac veins meet,
0:57
they form the inferior vena cava. It is runs on the right side of
1:01
the vertebral column, lying on the right of the abdominal aorta as you see here.
1:07
And if we add the liver. You’ll see that the Inferior vena cava forms a groove
1:12
on the posterior surface of the liver. And then it goes through the diaphragm
1:17
through the caval opening, together with the right phrenic nerve.
1:21
So that was it for the topography. Now finally Let’s go through the Visceral Tributaries
Tributaries of Inferior Vena Cava
1:28
draining organs. And the Parietal Tributaries draining structures like bones and muscle.
Visceral Tributaries
1:33
So, the first veins in our list that drain blood into the inferior vena cava are the Hepatic Veins.
1:40
Those are three large intrahepatic veins that drain the liver parenchyma,
1:45
into the inferior vena cava. That means that when blood from
1:49
the portal system goes into the liver to be filtrated and processed by the liver.
1:54
That blood will flow through the hepatic veins
1:57
and then into the systemic circulation again. And there are 3 Hepatic veins
2:02
We have the right hepatic vein. Intermediate. And Left.
2:06
So that’s this one. Next we have the Right suprarenal vein.
2:10
So for that. We’ll add the right kidney and adrenal gland.
2:15
Because this vein will drain blood from the suprarenal gland into the inferior vena cava
2:21
Then after that we have our renal veins. So let’s go ahead and add the left kidney as well.
2:28
At this point let’s go ahead and zoom in to focus on this area.
2:32
The Left renal vein goes to the left kidney. The Right renal vein goes to the right kidney
2:38
Now. The left renal veins have some tributaries aswell.
2:42
The left suprarenal vein will drain blood from the suprarenal gland into the left renal vein.
2:49
The left Testicular vein will drain blood from the left testes. And the left ovarian vein
2:56
for the left ovary. So these three veins are going to drain into the left renal vein and then into
3:03
the inferior vena cava. Awesome
3:05
On the right side however, the Right ovarian vein and the Right testicular vein
3:10
are going to drain their respective areas directly into the inferior vena cava.
3:16
One thing that’s important to mention here is that the ovarian veins and the testicular
3:20
veins are going to drain a plexus called the Pampiniform plexus, which lies on the
3:26
posterior aspect of the ovaries and the testes. So that was al for the visceral branches.
Parietal Tributaries
3:32
The parietal branches are quite easy. We have the four pairs of lumbar veins,
3:37
which follow the lumbar arteries. posterolateral abdominal wall and lumbar structures of the
3:44
back. So basically most things in this area. Lumbar veins also communicate with the external
3:51
and internal vertebral venous plexuses, to drain structures like the spinal cord.
3:57
And it also communicated with the ascending lumbar veins on either size, which remember drains into
4:03
the azygos and the hemiazygos veins. So the lumbar veins communicate with the ascending lumbar veins,
4:09
and the vertebral venous plexuses. Awesome.
4:12
Lastly, we have the Inferior Phrenic Vein, which is related with the diaphragm, as you see here.
4:19
So these veins are going to drain the diaphragm from the inferior side.
4:23
So that was it for the Inferior vena cava! I really hope you found this video helpful
4:28
If you did, please put a like, share comment, whatever you find convenient to you.
4:32
See you next time.