Can a dilated coronary sinus produce left ventricular inflow obstruction? An unrecognized entity

Left superior vena cava in pediatric cardiology associated with extra-cardiac anomalies

“…Knowledge of a present LSVC may then be of (vital) importance [7]. Furthermore, flow through the mitral valve can be restricted due to dilatation of the coronary sinus [12]. The LSVC may drain directly into the left atrium and lead to cyanosis [8,23,24].…”

“…An isolated LSVC is seldom associated with symptoms and may remain undiagnosed [5,7]. Nevertheless, there are frequent reports on complications, especially when central venous access is required [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”

Clinical significance of persistent left superior vena cava diagnosed in fetal life

“…Although we do not know the real rate of false‐negative cases, since postnatal echocardiography was not routinely performed to neonates without prenatal diagnosis of CHD, it seems logical to assume that this rate must be very low, as PLSVC may be easily and accurately detected in fetal echocardiographic examination, with no false‐positive cases detected in our series. Postnatal series have reported that the prevalence of PLSVC is greater among patients with CHD, with figures 10 times higher (3–8%) than that observed in the normal healthy population7–10, making PLSVC the most common venous anomaly associated with CHD. Our results show that this association is even greater in fetal life, with a prevalence that is twice the postnatal rate, and is in full agreement with the 9% prevalence reported from pathological series20.…”

“…The importance of a PLSVC lies in a greater prevalence of associated congenital heart defects (CHD). PLSVC occurs in up to 3–8% of patients with CHD, making PLSVC the most common venous anomaly associated with CHD7–10. Therefore, the recognition of a PLSVC in a screening ultrasound examination should alert the examiner and these patients must be referred for complete fetal echocardiography.…”

Persistent left superior vena cava – considerations in fetal, pediatric and adult populations

“…, 9 – 12 , Reported cardiac abnormalities include heterotaxy (left and right isomerism), with associated abnormalities such as dextrocardia, double outlet right ventricle, atrio ventriculer‐septal defect, and aesociated polysplenia or asplenia. Other structural cardiac defects (not in the spectrum of heterotaxy) include coarctation of the aorta, ventricular septal defect, bicuspid aortic valves, tetralogy of Fallot and double aortic arch.…”