MR VENOGRAPHY OF LEFT RENAL-VEIN ANOMALIES

The examinations of 71 patients having comprehensive 2D time of flight (TOF) abdominal magnetic resonance venography (MRV) in three planes ( axial, sagittal and 10 degrees offset coronal) were evaluated to asses s the appearances of anomalous left renal veins as shown by MRV. Six c ases of circumaortic left renal vein (CLRV) (8.5%) and one example of retro-aortic left renal vein only (1.4%) were identified, an incidence higher than that in previous computed tomography (CT) studies but com parable to venographic and post-mortem investigations. All retro-aorti c components passed in a caudal direction to join the inferior vena ca va (IVC) inferior to the anterior limb. MRV acquired in the sagittal p lane was found to be most useful for identifying these variants and pr ovided highest signal by avoidance of in-plane how saturation effects.