Sources of bleeding during IVC tumour thrombi removal: MDCT examination

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the sources of bleeding from the lumen of the inferior vena cava (IVC) during removal of the tumour thrombus. We have studied the MDCT anatomy of the posterior tributaries of the IVC, including variant lumbar veins and lumbar veins of the infrarenal IVC. The variant lumbar veins rarely are the main source of bleeding during thrombectomy. The right upper lumbar veins of the infrarenal IVC draining into the inferior vena cava in close proximity to the mouths of the renal veins played the leading role in this matter. Before the operation a surgeon must carefully plan the stage of vascular thrombus isolation and evaluate the anatomy of the upper lumbar veins with the use of the data of medical imaging.