Abstract:

Aim: Congenital vascular malformations of the thorax are not very common. These conditions are mostly asymptomatic and detected incidentally on imaging performed for various complaints. In this study, it is aimed to examine the incidence of congenital thoracic vascular anomalies in our region. Methods: The features of the patients with non-specific complaints who underwent a thorax Computed Tomography (CT) for over 2 years period were retrospectively reviewed on the hospital database and demographical data (Gender and age) were recorded. All the Computed Tomography CT images were interpreted regarding thoracic vascular anomalies including persistent left superior vena cava, azygos lobe, aberrant right subclavian artery, dilated left superior intercostal vein, right-sided aortic arch, situs inversus, and partial anomalous pulmonary venous return. The incidences of these thoracic vascular anomalies were calculated and compared with previous studies. Results: A total of 2000 patients with a mean age of 56.13±14.62 (12-93 years) were included in this study. Among them 776 (38.8%) ones were female (mean age 56.93±15.19 (13-93 years)) and 1224 (61.2%) were male (mean age 55.63±14.23 (12-88 years)). Mediastinal vascular anomaly was detected in 62 (3.1%) patients. A mediastinal vascular anomaly was observed in 27 (3.5%) female patients and 35 (2.6%) male patients. The most common mediastinal vascular anomaly inthis study was the right aberrant subclavian artery (n:17, 0.9%) and the rarest was partial anomalous pulmonary venous return (n:1, 0.1%). Persistent left superior vena cava incidence was 0.3% (n:6), azygos lobe 0.7% (n:14), right-sided aortic arch 0.3% (n:5), situs inversus totalis 0.2% (n:3), and dilated left superior intercostal vein 0.8% (n:16). Conclusion: Mediastinal vascular anomalies are rare and usually asymptomatic. But the imaging findings of these conditions must be well-known to accurately planning the interventions and also to prevent iatrogenic injuries.

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