Anatomical Variations of the Venous Drainage from the Left Adrenal Gland: An Anatomical Study

Abstract

No connections have been found between left adrenal vein and the RLAT, and frequency of the IPV is discordant with the literature. However, our findings concerning the capsular vessels' anastomosis with the azygos system, inferior diaphragmatic flow and double adrenal vein could have two clinical applications: Firstly, the ligation of the adrenal vein solely is not enough to entirely interrupt the adrenal vein drainage, and secondly, sampling of hormones in the LAV could be underestimated because of the risk of dilution.

The clinical significance of left inferior phrenic vein in retroperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy

“…In terms of relationship between left IPV and CAV, Matthieu Siebert etal [19] reported left IPV drained into an adrenal vein in 100% of 44 adult cadavers cases, and are not consistent with the ndings of Loukas [8] , who found a connection between CAV and IPV in only 25% of cases. The difference could be explained by the two different protocols of anatomy.…”

Improved adrenal vein sampling from a dedicated programme: experience of a low-volume single centre in Singapore

“…CT imaging before AVS has been shown to improve success rates, (28) and can be paramount for identifying variations in both right (29) and left adrenal veins. (30) In our practice, contrast was not routinely given for CT adrenals unless a lipid-poor adenoma was detected on plain CT. Hence, it is important to specifically request for intravenous contrast to delineate the adrenal veins, which are best seen in the portal venous phase.…”