The vena cava is the name given to the two largest veins in the human body. They collect the venous, low-oxygen blood from the body periphery and lead it back to the heart. From there it returns to the lungs, where it is enriched with oxygen before being pumped back into the body’s circulation.
In the vena cava, a distinction is made between an upper vena cava and a lower vena cava. Superior vena cava The superior vena cava (lat. Vena cava superior) transports the venous blood from the upper half of the body, i.e. above the diaphragm: head and neck area, both upper extremities.
It is formed by the union of the two brachiocephalic veins and is about five centimeters long. Behind the right edge of the breastbone (sternum) and to the right of the ascending part of the aorta (pars ascendens aortae) it runs to the heart. There it flows into the right atrium at the level of the third costal cartilage.
Before entering the pericardium, it receives its inflow through the azygos vein. Inferior vena cava The inferior vena cava conducts the blood from the lower half of the body back to the heart. It originates from the confluence of the right and left common iliac veins at the level of the fourth to fifth lumbar vertebrae.
On the right, along the abdominal aorta, the pars abdominalis aortae, it pulls it upwards in front of the spinal column. Through an opening in the diaphragm, the Foramen venae cavae, it passes into the thoracic cavity, where one to two centimeters above it also opens into the right atrium. On its way it receives many important inflows from the paired abdominal organs, i.e. from the
- Kidneys
- Adrenal glands
- Testicles or ovaries
