What makes up the inferior vena cava

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Stories of Discovery. Milestones in Cancer Research and Discovery. Biomedical Citizen Science. Director's Message. Budget Proposal. Stories of Cancer Research. Driving Discovery. It is usually considered to be one of the great vessels. The inferior vena cava is formed by the confluence of the two common iliac veins at the L5 vertebral level.

The IVC has a retroperitoneal course within the abdominal cavity. It runs along the right side of the vertebral column with the aorta lying laterally on the left. Various other veins drain into the IVC along its course before it passes through the diaphragm at the caval hiatus at the T8 level. Its intrathoracic course is very short before draining into the right atrium at the inferior cavoatrial junction.

Since the IVC is not a midline structure, there is a degree of asymmetry of drainage, e. The normal IVC has a complex embryological development with many embryological veins contributing to many different parts:. Inferior caval abnormalities are typically the result of abnormal embryologic development involving the vitelline, posterior cardinal, subcardinal and supracardinal veins 3 :.

Rarely a Eustachian valve at the inferior cavoatrial junction may be present. Anatomy: Abdominopelvic. Please Note: You can also scroll through stacks with your mouse wheel or the keyboard arrow keys. Updating… Please wait. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile.

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Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. The inferior vena cava also known as IVC or the posterior vena cava is a large vein that carries blood from the torso and lower body to the right side of the heart. From there the blood is pumped to the lungs to get oxygen before going to the left side of the heart to be pumped back out to the body. The IVC gets its name from its structure, as it is the lower, or inferior, part of the venae cavae, which are the two large veins responsible for the blood transport back to the right side of the heart.

The IVC handles blood from the lower body while the other vein, known as the superior vena cava, carries the blood circulating in the upper half of the body. The IVC is formed by the merging of the right and left common iliac veins. These veins come together in the abdomen, helping to move blood from the lower limbs back up to the heart.

What makes the IVC different from other veins is that there are no valves within the vein to keep blood moving forward instead of backward, which is how the typical anatomy of a vein works. To prevent the blood from moving back into the body, valves made up of tissue in the vein close as the blood through it. But the anatomy of the IVC vein is slightly different.

Instead of valves, the pressure from breathing and the contraction of the diaphragm as the lungs fill with air helps to pull the blood forward from the IVC all the way up to the heart. The IVC goes from the diaphragm into the right side of the heart, beneath the entrance of the superior vena cava. A few veins merge and drain into the IVC before it makes its way up to the heart, including the left renal vein. The left adrenal and left gonadal veins go into the renal vein before all shifting to the IVC.

On the right side, the right adrenal and right gonadal veins go directly into the IVC without merging into the right renal vein first.