Persistent right umbilical vein: a case report

Introduction

Persistent right umbilical vein is a vascular pathology in which the left umbilical vein becomes occluded and the right umbilical vein persists and remains open. In the normal fetus, the right umbilical vein begins to obliterate around the fourth week of gestation and disappears by the seventh week of gestation. Persistent right umbilical vein does not prevent the formation of ductus venosus and it does not alter the distribution of blood to the fetus. The causes of persistent right umbilical vein are first trimester folic acid deficiency, specific teratogens such as retinoic acid, and early obstruction of the left umbilical vein from the external pressure or occlusion.

Case(s)

Between 26.7.2010 and 15.8.2013 we had 575 pregnant patients delivered in our obstetric unit. We had one case of persistent right umbilical vein. A 33-year-old woman, G3P1A1, was presented to our department at 30+2 weeks. Fetal echocardiography was performed at 30 weeks and showed no abnormalities. Now the baby is 4 months old and has no health problems.

Conclusion

The advances in imaging techniques have revealed an increase in the number of prenatally diagnosed vascular anomalies (1-3). Persistent right umbilical vein (PRUV) is the most common prenatally detected venous anomaly, with an estimated prevalence of between 1 in 250 and 1 in 1250 (4-9). The other anomalies that may be associated are single umbilical artery, dextrocardia, right sided descending aorta, gastrointestinal tract malformation, skeletal malformations, cardiac anomalies, urinary tract malformations.

Keywords

Persistent right umbilical vein