Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2025 Jul 11;17(7):e87729.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.87729. eCollection 2025 Jul.

Inferior Vena Cava Atresia: A Rare Cause of Recurrent Deep Venous Thrombosis and Infected Venous Ulcers

Fawad Talat  1 , Saqib Gul  2 , Owais Gul  1 , Maria Khalid  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Inferior Vena Cava Atresia: A Rare Cause of Recurrent Deep Venous Thrombosis and Infected Venous Ulcers

Fawad Talat et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Inferior vena cava (IVC) atresia is a rare vascular anomaly and may lead to recurrent deep venous thrombosis (DVT), especially in young adults. It leads to venous stasis due to insufficient drainage from the lower extremities, which in turn contributes to the formation of venous ulcers. Imaging modalities such as computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging may aid in diagnosis. There are no specific guidelines regarding anticoagulation for DVTs in these patients, so general principles of management are usually followed. Surgical options are less studied due to the low incidence of the condition and are, therefore, less likely to be advised. In this report, we present a case of a 37-year-old male patient presenting with recurrent DVTs and infected venous ulcers with a delayed incidental diagnosis of IVC atresia on CT imaging.

Keywords: anticoagulation; dvt; ivc atresia; vascular anomaly; venous ulcers.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Informed consent for treatment and open access publication was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Right leg venous ulcers on examination
Figure 2
Figure 2. Left leg venous ulcers on examination
Figure 3
Figure 3. CT scan (coronal view) of the abdomen with contrast showing the area of absent IVC (blue arrow) right next to the normal-appearing abdominal aorta (black arrow)
IVC: inferior vena cava
Figure 4
Figure 4. CT angiogram (coronal view) of the chest showing a prominent azygos vein (blue arrow) right next to the normal-appearing thoracic aorta (green arrow)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Heterozygosity for the Budapest 3 mutation in SERPINC1 in a family with thrombophilia and structural anomalies of the inferior vena cava. Iversen N, Henriksson CE, Sletten M, Le MS, Lindberg BR, Andersen R, Paus B. Thromb J. 2024;22:75. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Inferior vena cava agenesis and deep vein thrombosis: 10 patients and review of the literature. Lambert M, Marboeuf P, Midulla M, et al. Vasc Med. 2010;15:451–459. - PubMed
    1. Incidental finding of inferior vena cava atresia presenting with deep venous thrombosis following physical exertion. Koppisetty S, Smith AG, Dhillon RK. Case Rep Emerg Med. 2015;2015:146304. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Systematic review of inferior vena cava atresia. Saab K, Brahmandam AS, Brackett AL, Desai MM, Dardik A, Guzman RJ, Chaar CI. J Vasc Surg Venous Lymphat Disord. 2023;11:1253–1264. - PubMed
    1. Direct oral anticoagulants in deep vein thrombosis associated with inferior vena cava agenesis: A report of three cases and a systematic review. Osti N, Racanelli V, Susca N, Martinelli N, Maino A. Int J Cardiol Heart Vasc. 2025;56:101565. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources