Angiocardiographic Measurement of the Cardiac Segment of the Inferior Vena Cava in Health and in Cardiovascular Disease

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Abstract
Angiocardiographic measurement of the inferior vena cava revealed the normal mean caliber to be 23.9 mm (SE [plus or minus]0.68). In cardiovascular disease with right heart failure or enlargement, the mean caliber increased to 30.5 mm. (SE [plus or minus] 0.51). In children with congenital heart disease, the mean caliber is 17.1 mm. (SE [plus or minus]0.44). The caliber of the inferior vena cava in the presence of congenital heart disease with right failure or enlargement may be roughly predicted from the following formula caliber = 7.7 log10 age - 16.5. This formula is not applicable to the adult groups, either normal or with acquired heart disease, because the caliber does not significantly increase with age. The caliber of the normal superior vena cava is half that of the inferior vena cava. With cardiovascular disease this ratio increases to 0.6 to 0.7. In an arbitrarily selected group of patients with acquired heart disease without clinical, roentgen, or angiocardiographic signs of right heart failure or enlargement, the superior-to-inferior venae cavae ratio was 0.64. This suggests that even in the absence of manifest right heart failure, hemodynamic changes exist.

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