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Prevalence of Right Portal Vein Branching Anomalies

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10021

 
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We read with interest the recent report of Atasoy and Özyürek [1] on the prevalence of right portal vein branching anomalies. The authors reference portal variations occurring in 0.09-24% of patients, and state that, to their knowledge, variations in right portal vein ramification have not been described in the radiology literature.

In fact, we reported on portal vein variants in 200 patients in a study published in the AJR in 2004, with very similar results [2]. We evaluated portal branch anatomy based on CT with arterial portography and characterized portal variants into five categories, the first three matching those in the current study [1].

The authors report the prevalence of portal vein anomalies to be 34.5%, "higher than in other studies" [1]. However, we too found 35% of patients to have variant portal vein anatomy—9% (as in the current study) with type 2 variant, with trifurcation of the main portal vein, and 13% with type 3 anatomy, in which the right posterior portal vein is the first branch of the main portal vein.

Atasoy and Özyürek [1] postulate that the high prevalence of anomalies detected were found because of 3D reformatting. Our study did not use 3D reformats but had similar results. Careful attention to portal vein anatomy on 2D or 3D imaging is important in detecting these clinically relevant but often overlooked anomalies. Likewise, careful attention to a literature search can prevent overlooking relevant publications.

References

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1. Atasoy Ç, Özyürek E. Prevalence and types of main and right portal vein branching variations on MDCT. AJR 2006; 187:676 -681[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2. Covey AM, Brody LA, Getrajdman GI, Sofocleous CT, Brown KT. Incidence, patterns and clinical relevance of variant portal vein anatomy. AJR 2004; 183:1055 -1064[Abstract/Free Full Text]

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This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Covey, A. M. Articles by Brown, K. T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Covey, A. M. Articles by Brown, K. T. Social Bookmarking                      What's this? Hotlight (NEW!) What's Hotlight?