Evaluation of iliac venous variations with multidetector computed tomography.

Purpose: There are many variations of the iliac vein, and it is aimed to evaluate these variations using multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). Methods: Pelvic MDCT images of 1071 adult patients (576 males; 495 females; age range 18–94 years; mean age 50.3 years) were retrospectively evaluated. Reconstruction images of the pelvic region in sagittal and coronal planes were evaluated. Except for the usual iliac venous anatomy, all types of iliac vein connections were defined as "iliac venous variation". Results: Of the 1071 patients, 84.2% were considered as type 1 (usual). Different variations were observed in 15.8% of the patients, of whom, 63.9% of were male and 36.1% female, and this gender difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05). The rates of variations detected in the study were type 2 (49.7%), type 3 (29%), type 4 (4.7%), type 5 (6.5%), type 6 (4.8%), type 7 (1.8%) and type 8 (3.6%) respectively. New subtypes that we named as type 3c, type 6f, type 6 × and type 7b were first determined in our study. Conclusion: Knowledge and evaluation of iliac venous variations before pelvic surgery or interventional procedures is of importance in preventing possible complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]