Circumaortic Left Brachiocephalic Vein: CT Findings

The left brachiocephalic vein usually passes superior and anterior to the aortic arch. In rare cases, this vein follows an anomalous course; for example, a circumaortic left brachiocephalic vein. We present the case of a circumaortic left brachiocephalic vein in a 53-year-old male with lung cancer. A multidetector CT showed that the two branches of the left brachiocephalic vein circumscribed the aortic arch. The anterior branch was above and the posterior branch was below the aortic arch. Both branches drained into the superior vena cava.