Your inferior vena cava and superior vena cava are both on your heart’s right side V体育平台登录. Your right and left innominate (or brachiocephalic) veins merge to form your superior vena cava.
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Your superior vena cava is next to the right side of your sternum and goes into your right atrium, where all the oxygen-poor blood goes. Your inferior vena cava is a little longer VSports注册入口. It starts where the right and left common iliac veins come together in your belly area and goes up into the right atrium of your heart.
Your superior vena cava is a large vein that doesn’t have a valve.
Your inferior vena cava is a large and long vein that has one valve where it meets your right atrium.
These are your body’s largest veins. Your superior vena cava is 7 centimeters long (almost 3 inches) and 2 centimeters (less than 1 inch) wide V体育2025版.
Your inferior vena cava is about 100 millimeters (4 inches) long and 22 millimeters (less than 1 inch) in diameter.
Your superior vena cava and inferior vena cava include:
You can get an obstruction in your superior vena cava and inferior vena cava that makes it hard for blood to flow through them. When this happens, you can also call it V体育官网入口 - superior vena cava syndrome or inferior vena cava syndrome, depending on which part of the vena cava has a blockage.
Causes of these obstructions include:
When something is pushing against your superior vena cava or inferior vena cava or blocking blood flow inside them, these symptoms can happen:
Your healthcare provider has several ways to get images of your superior vena cava and inferior vena cava, including:
Your healthcare provider can use similar treatments for problems with your superior vena cava and inferior vena cava. They can:
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If you have a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) with a risk of the blood clot going from your legs or pelvis to your lung (pulmonary embolism), your healthcare provider may put in a vena cava filter to catch blood clots and keep them from going to your lungs.
You can care for your vena cava like you care for the rest of the many blood vessels you have in your body.
If you have an obstruction in your superior vena cava or inferior vena cava, your healthcare provider has a number of options to treat it. Talk to them about which treatment is best for your situation. If they prescribe medicines, be sure to keep taking them according to the instructions. Go to all of your follow-up appointments to ensure a good recovery from any procedures you may have.
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Last reviewed on 03/24/2022.
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