Anatomy of the azygos vein examined by computerized tomography imaging.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the anatomy of the azygos vein AV using different parameters. Therefore, the diameter of the AV at its opening into the superior vena cava, the opening level of the AV into the superior vena cava, and the position of the AV, with respect to the vertebral column and carina, were examined by CT.


METHODS
Chest CTs of 103 cases (42 female and 61 male) were reviewed at the Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey between July 2004 and February 2005. The CT examinations were performed with a Philips AU E1 spiral CT (Rotterdam, Netherlands) with the following parameters: 120 Hv; 200 mAs; slice thickness: 7 mm; pitch: 1; reconstruction index: 7 mm. The results were statistically analyzed.


RESULTS
The diameter of the AV at the opening into the superior vena cava ranged between 4.3 mm and 16 mm. The AV was in the midline in 41 cases. The arching and opening level of the AV was at the fifth thoracic vertebra in most cases. The opening level was most often at the same level as the carina. Hemiazygos veins were detected in 90 patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The parameters measured in this study may be useful in surgical procedures of the mediastinum and during the interpretation of chest radiographs.
Tatar
Ilkan
I
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. ilkan@hacettepe.edu.tr
Denk
Cemil C
CC
Celik
Hamdi H
HH
Oto
Aytekin
A
Karaosmanoglu
Devrim A
DA
Ozdemir
Bulent M
BM
Surucu
Selcuk H
SH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001401:Azygos Vein / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed