Inferior vena cava (Vena cava inferior)
Educational content only — not medical advice.
Anatomy
The body’s largest vein, formed by the common iliac confluence in front of L5 and ascending right of the aorta through the diaphragm at T8 to the right atrium; it collects lower-limb, pelvic, renal and post-sinusoidal hepatic blood.
Clinical notes
Chronic obstruction (Budd-Chiari after hepatic vein thrombosis) gives ascites, basket-clip abdominal pain and hepatomegaly; pregnancy compresses it dilating leg veins and haemorrhoids, and its filter traps clots from reaching the lungs.
Related structures
Educational references
FAQ
What is the role of the Inferior vena cava?
The body’s largest vein, formed by the common iliac confluence in front of L5 and ascending right of the aorta through the diaphragm at T8 to the right atrium; it collects lower-limb, pelvic, renal and post-sinusoidal hepatic blood.
Why is the Inferior vena cava clinically important?
Chronic obstruction (Budd-Chiari after hepatic vein thrombosis) gives ascites, basket-clip abdominal pain and hepatomegaly; pregnancy compresses it dilating leg veins and haemorrhoids, and its filter traps clots from reaching the lungs.
Source & license
BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science licensed under CC Attribution 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). license details