Premium
Left Brachiocephalic Vein Mimicking an Aortic Dissection on Transesophageal Echocardiography
Author(s) -
APPELBE ALAN F.,
OLSON SHARI,
BIBY LLOYD D.,
CURLING PATRICK E.,
MARTIN RANDOLPH P.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
echocardiography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1540-8175
pISSN - 0742-2822
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-8175.1993.tb00012.x
Subject(s) - medicine , brachiocephalic vein , aortic dissection , dissection (medical) , radiology , vein , aorta , cardiology , superior vena cava
Transesophageal echocardiography has gained widespread acceptance for the diagnosis of aortic dissection; however, little attention has been paid to the pitfalls that may be encountered. The left brachiocephalic vein can mimic a localized aortic dissection. The features that distinguished this vein from an aortic dissection are: the lack of the characteristic oscillating motion of an intimal flap; the pattern of flow within the vein; the tubular nature of the vein is seen using the sagittal imaging plane; and an injection of agitated saline into a left arm vein will show contrast enhancement of the left brachiocephalic vein.