title: The double retro-aortic left renal vein.
abstract: The renal veins drain the kidney into the inferior vena cava and unite in a variable fashion to form the renal vein. The left renal vein is normally located in front of the aorta. However, the retro-aortic renal vein may course posterior to the aorta due to embryological developmental anomalies. During educational dissection, a rare variation of the left renal vein was found in a 66-year old male cadaver. The double retro-aortic renal veins coursed behind the aorta to drain into the inferior vena cava. The superior retro-aortic renal vein drained into the inferior vena cava at the lower border of the L2 vertebra, and the inferior retro-aortic renal vein drained into the inferior vena cava at the upper border of the L4 vertebra. Such a variant is rare, and is a clinically important observation which should be noted by vascular surgeons, oncologists, and traumatologists.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong-Soo
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kyung
authors.forename: Jae-Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Deuk-Yong
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Dae-Kwang
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: In-Jang
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Choi
keywords: Renal veins; Retro-aortic; Variation