hi let's talk about the inferior vena cava in this video we'll discuss the tributaries of the
inferior vena cava the inferior vena cava or ivc is a vessel that mirrors its counterpart
the abdominal aorta in the abdominal cavity it can be found right lateral to the abdominal aorta
and both of these vessels are retroperitoneal now the inferior vena cava begins as the union of two
vessels the common iliac veins at approximately the fifth lumbar vertebrae and it ascends the
totality of the abdomen and moves through the diaphragm at the caval opening at approximately
the eighth thoracic vertebral level there are various branches of the ivc or tributaries i
should say and these tributaries often are going to mirror their abdominal aorta counterparts
with the exception of there being no commensurate branches to the celiac trunk the sma or the
ima because these three vessels are going to feed the gut tube and the gut tube is drained of blood
by the hepatic portal vein the hepatic portal vein is going to conduct blood to hepatic sinusoids
and these sinusoids are going to be drained of blood through the hepatic veins
there are typically three hepatic veins that move through the substance of the liver and they drain
into the inferior vena cava at approximately the t8 level just inferior to the cable hiatus
now other branches of the inferior vena cava are going to include inferior phrenic veins that are
draining the inferior portions of the diaphragm suprarenal veins and we notice that there is an
asymmetry here the right uh suprarenal vein is going to drain directly into the ivc whereas the
left suprenal vein is going to share a common trunk with the left inferior phrenic vein
which is going to drain into the left renal vein both renal veins left and right are going to
be direct tributaries into the ivc the gonadal veins will have an asymmetry with the right
gonadal vein draining directly into the ivc whereas the left gonadal vein is a tributary
of the left renal vein as you may recall the relationship between the left renal vein and the
superior mesenteric artery make the left renal vein particularly susceptible to compression in
the case of an abdominal aortic aneurysm at about the l1 or l2 level and that is known as left renal
vein entrapment syndrome also known as nutcracker syndrome which would impinge on the return of
blood through the left inferior phrenic vein the left suprarenal vein and the left gonadal vein
finally there are four lumbar veins uh the third and the fourth pairs of lumbar veins are direct
tributaries into the inferior vena cava whereas the first and the second pairs of lumbar veins
are tributaries of the azygous system and that azygous system is going to drain into the superior
vena cava the inferior vena cava once traversing the diaphragm at the caval opening at t8 is going
to return that blood from this portion of the caval system into the right atrium
so we've discussed the location of the inferior vena cava
the tributaries of the inferior vena cava with a specific emphasis on the asymmetry
between the right and left branches this is your summary slide thank you for your time