Prevalence of femoral vein duplication: systematic review and metaanalysis

Abstract

Background: Duplication of the femoral vein is an important anatomical variation of the venous anatomy which has been shown to have an impact on the diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis by compression ultrasonography. The presence of duplication may result in false negative findings while evaluating for deep venous thrombosis, with serious consequences such as pulmonary embolism and death. This metaanalysis aims to determine the pooled prevalence of duplicated femoral veins. Methods: A systematic search was conducted through the major databases PubMed, Hinari, Embase and Medline to identify studies eligible for inclusion. Appropriate data were extracted and pooled into a random-effects metaanalysis using MetaXL software. The primary and secondary outcomes of the study included the pooled prevalence of duplicated femoral veins and the prevalence of bilaterally duplicated femoral veins, respectively. Results: A total of 11 studies (n = 3,682 limbs) were included. The overall pooled prevalence of duplicated femoral veins was 19.7% (95% CI 11–30). There was a significant difference in prevalence between cadaveric studies (2%, 95% CI 1–4) and imaging studies (25%, 95% CI 17–34). Conclusion: Duplication of the femoral vein is a common variation in the lower limbs. Routine watch-out should be practiced especially when performing lower limb Doppler studies in cases of deep venous thrombosis in order to avoid misdiagnosis and improve diagnostic accuracy.

Diagnostic Value of Lower Extremity Venous Duplication via Digital Subtraction Angiography Guided Venography

“…According to reports by Sibuor, 15 Chandrashekar, 4 and Zamboni, 16 the incidence of Femoral vein (FV) duplication varies greatly, ranging from 19-55%. FV duplication is a common variation of lower limb veins, which is consistent with the findings of this study.…”

Diagnostik der tiefen Beinvenenthrombose mit Kompressionssonografie

“…Die V. femoralis ist bei ca. 20 % der Patienten doppelt angelegt [3]. Die Untersuchung darf sich daher nicht auf die Darstellung einer kompressiblen Vene beschränken, sondern es muss gezielt nach inkompressiblen Venenduplikaturen gesucht werden.…”