Ascending lumbar vein
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Vein: Ascending lumbar vein | ||
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The venæ cavæ and azygos veins, with their tributaries. (Ascending lumbar vein very faintly labeled at center right, vertically, below left kidney.) | ||
Latin | vena lumbalis ascendens | |
Gray's | subject #172 667 | |
Drains from | lateral sacral veins | |
Drains to | azygos vein, hemiazygos vein | |
Dorlands/Elsevier | v_05/12850866 |
The ascending lumbar vein is a vein that runs up through the lumbar region on the side of the vertebral column.
[edit] Structure
The ascending lumbar vein is a paired structure (i.e. one each for the right and left sides of the body). It starts at the lateral sacral veins, and it runs superiorly, intersecting with the lumbar veins as it crosses them.
When the ascending lumbar vein crosses the subcostal vein, it becomes one of the following:
- the azygos vein (in the case of the right ascending lumbar vein)
- the hemiazygos vein (in the case of the left ascending lumbar vein)