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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2022; 32(04): 568-575
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1757742
Pictorial Essay

Thoracic Vascular Variants and Anomalies: Imaging Findings, Review of the Embryology, and Clinical Features

Valentina Munera Orozco 
1   Radiology Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Colombia
,
Uribe Ricardo
2   Radiology EMMSA, Colombia
,
Hinestroza Carlos
1   Radiology Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Colombia
,
Mesa Paula
2   Radiology EMMSA, Colombia
,
Florez Katherine
2   Radiology EMMSA, Colombia
› Author Affiliations
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Abstract

Thoracic vascular malformations are a set of complex congenital abnormalities that result in major alterations of the patient's anatomy. It can be discovered incidentally or the anomalies may generate heart failure with a right-to-left shunt, dysphagia, dyspnea, stridor, cough, recurrent bronchopulmonary infections, hypoxemia, paradoxical emboli, and occasionally apneas and massive hemothorax.

The knowledge of the embryology, and the normal development of the vascular structures of the thorax, allows to understand these abnormalities—and thus helps in making an accurate diagnosis—with its possible complications, symptoms, and treatments for the patient. The following is a review of the most common thoracic vascular malformations and their imaging findings.

Keywords

aorta - thoracic - vascular ring - pulmonary arteries


Publication History

Article published online:
28 November 2022

© 2022. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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