You have not signed in, your progress will not be monitored for certification purposes. Click here to sign in.

Abnormalities seen in the great arteries view

Persistent Left Superior Vena Cava

A persistent left superior caval vein is a subtle cardiac finding, which is seen in the great artery view. The PLSVC drains into the coronary sinus behind the left atrium and therefore coronary sinus appears enlarged in the four-chamber view. In ‘three vessel view’ the proximal part of the PLSVC is seen as forth vessel.

Prevalence

PLSVC is found in about 1 in 300 live births.

Other abnormalities

Associated chromosomal anomaly is mainly trisomy 18 but in such cases there are usually other ultrasound abnormalities or markers of aneuploidy.

Prognosis

PLSVC is often part of major cardiac abnormality, such as coarctation of the aorta, hypoplastic left heart syndrome or double outlet right ventricle. However, PLSVC as an isolated cardiac finding is of no clinical significance and does not require postnatal follow up.

 A case of PLSVC

The lateral four-chamber view of the heart demonstrates enlarged coronary sinus (white arrowhead) but in the "three vessel view", four rather than three vessels are seen. The red circle indicates the PLSVC and the yellow circle indicates the right superior vena cava.