A 56-year-old woman underwent chest x-ray for evaluation of a pelvic tumour. The x-ray showed a unique pattern of bilateral, anomalous, curvilinear vessels (figure 1A). CT with volume-rendered reconstruction (figure 1B), coronal (figure 1C) and axial (figure 1D,E) maximum intensity projection (MIP) images demonstrated bilateral pulmonary veins that followed an aberrant circuitous route before draining normally into the left atrium; this pattern is referred as bilateral anomalous single pulmonary veins.

• Download figure
• Open in new tab
• Download powerpoint

Figure 1

Chest x-ray showed a unique pattern of bilateral, anomalous, curvilinear vessels (A). CT with coronal volume-rendered reconstructions (B) and coronal (C) and axial (D and E) MIP CT images demonstrated bilateral pulmonary veins following an aberrant circuitous route before draining normally into the left atrium. MIP, maximum intensity projection.

Although anomalous pulmonary veins are a benign malformation with normal venous return, usually asymptomatic, this condition must be distinguished from anomalous pulmonary venous connections (sometimes associated with scimitar syndrome), which result in a left-to-right shunt.1 ,2