title: Intrapulmonary vertical vein associated with an infracardiac type of totally anomalous pulmonary venous connection.
abstract: We encountered 2 cases of a very rare type of anomalous pulmonary venous drainage associated with infracardiac type of total anomalous pulmonary venous connection. The pulmonary vein from the entire left lung traversed the posterior mediastinum and joined the right pulmonary vein at the hilum. Furthermore, a large drainage vein coursed caudally through the pulmonary parenchyma and penetrated the diaphragm. The morphology of the pulmonary venous system could not be delineated by preoperative echocardiography. It should be noted that the vertical vein of this variant cannot be found, even if the posterior mediastinum is extensively dissected during operation, and exploration of the pleural cavity is necessary.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular and Gastroenterological Surgery, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan. Electronic address: imoto@m3.kufm.kagoshima-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Imoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Kyushu Koseinenkin Hospital, Kitakyushu, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ochiai
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Kyushu Koseinenkin Hospital, Kitakyushu, Japan.
authors.forename: Kunitaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jooh
mesh_terms: D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D004452:Echocardiography; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011667:Pulmonary Veins / Q000002:abnormalities*; D012587:Scimitar Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D015646:Ventriculography, First-Pass