An extremely rare case with right superior pulmonary vein translocation

Abstract

Abstract Background There have been a number of reports on pulmonary venous anomalies. However, most of the reports focused on the anatomical branching pattern of the peripheral pulmonary veins. Case presentation We report a 75-year-old female whose right superior pulmonary vein V1 existed dorsal to the right main pulmonary artery and V2+3 existed dorsal to V4+5. Thus, we could not find V1 and V2+3 in the hilum just after a thoracotomy to perform right upper lobectomy for lung cancer. Thus, the right main pulmonary artery and the superior trunk (A1+3) were exposed without cutting the superior pulmonary vein. Conclusion There has been no report so far regarding this type of pulmonary vein translocation. Preoperative three-dimensional computed tomography images were helpful to identify this variant.

Keywords

• Thoracoscopic lobectomy
• Lung cancer
• Pulmonary vein
• Three-dimensional images