Blood vesselVein
Inferior vena cava
Latin: Vena cava inferior
Location: Abdomen → thorax
View the inferior vena cava in 3DCourse
Forms at L5 from the common iliac veins' union, ascends the retroperitoneum right of the aorta on the vertebral bodies' front, grooves the liver's bare area, pierces the diaphragm's central tendon at T8, and enters the right atrium's posterior floor.
Drains
Everything below the diaphragm — the body's largest vein.
Clinical relevance
The left renal vein reaches it by crossing in front of the aorta, just below the SMA — compression there is the nutcracker phenomenon; IVC filters catch emboli when anticoagulation cannot. Absence of the IVC (with azygos continuation) is a rare venous variant presenting with DVT in the young.
Educational anatomy reference, not medical advice. About this content.