Paraumbilical vein

In the course of the round ligament of liver, small veins (paraumbilical) are found which establish an anastomosis between the veins of the anterior abdominal wall and the hepatic portal, hypogastric, and iliac veins.

The best marked of these small veins is one which commences at the umbilicus and runs backward and upward in, or on the surface of, the round ligament (ligamentum teres) between the layers of the falciform ligament to end in the left portal vein.

Pathophysiology

In patients with portal hypertension, the paraumbilical veins may become enlarged in order to reduce hepatic portal vein pressure by shunting blood to the superficial epigastric vein. The superficial epigastric vein drains to the external iliac vein which ultimately drains into the inferior vena cava directly through the common iliac vein, thereby bypassing the liver. Dilation of this particular portacaval anastomosis results in what is referred to as caput medusae.

External links

• Atlas image: abdo_wall76 at the University of Michigan Health System - "Venous Drainage of the Anterior Abdominal Wall"