Failure to visualise the abdominal portion of the inferior vena cava with computed tomography: a clue to underlying abdominal pathology.
Failure to visualise the intra-abdominal portion of the inferior vena cava (IVC) using contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) is unusual. A review of 1272 contrast-enhanced abdominal CT examinations revealed that the IVC was not visible at one or more levels in only 132 (10.4%). In 57 (43%), non-visualisation was due to pathological processes, most frequently metastatic carcinoma, causing compression or thrombosis of the IVC. In the remainder, technical factors or artefacts could explain the non-visualisation. Techniques and procedures to improve visualisation of the IVC are discussed. Failure to visualise the IVC on CT at any level unexplained by artefacts is abnormal.
D000005:Abdomen / Q000473:pathology; D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000556:secondary; D006801:Humans; D011860:Radiography, Abdominal; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014682:Vena Cava, Inferior / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*