Left-Sided Inferior Vena Cava with Pancreatic Head Cancer: A Case Report

Introduction: Transposition of the inferior vena cava (IVC) is a congenital anomaly of the great vessels. Left IVC is a rare malformation, it is observed in about 0.04% to 0.5% of the population.

Presentation of Case: We report the case of a 64-year-old patient, with no particular pathological antecedent, who presented a tumor of the head of the pancreas and whose radiological examinations had shown the presence of the tumor with a left variant of the inferior vena cava.

Discussion: Left transposition of the IVC can be described as a "mirror image" of the normal IVC It is secondary to a disturbance of the venous development process and is often discovered incidentally during radiological examinations. CT scan is the examination of choice to detect these vascular variations with a sensitivity and specificity for arterial anomalies of 91.6 to 98.2% and venous anomalies of 96.7 to 90% respectively.

Conclusion: It must be reported by radiologists in order to avoid hemorrhagic complications during any surgery of the retroperitoneal space.