The fifth pulmonary vein

Abstract

A cadaver in Myungsung Medical College (MMC) had a 3rd pulmonary vein originating from the middle lobe of the right lung. Such anatomical variations are very rare. People with this variation have a total of five pulmonary veins entering left atrium. It has clinical implications especially for thoracic surgeons and radiologists during radiofrequency ablations, lobectomies, valve replacements, pulmonary vein catheterizations, video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) and others.

Keywords: Anatomy, Variations, Pulmonary veins