Presence of the Vieussens valve on cardiac computed tomography

Abstract

Background: The Vieussens valve is a venous valve often found between the coronary sinus ostium and the great cardiac vein.

Aims: This study aimed to analyze the Vieussens valve in vivo using cardiac computed tomography (CT).

Methods: A total of 325 patients (120 women; mean [SD] age, 58 [11] years) were included into the study. Retrospective scanning using 64 slices of 0.5 mm in thickness was performed and multiplanar reformatted reconstructions and 3‑dimensional volume renderings were used. As the Vieussens valve is difficult to find in standard reconstructions owing to its very small thickness, we decided to prepare and use indirect analyses in order to determine the presence of the valve. The basis for the analysis was the fact that even a very thin valve is an obstacle to the flow of the contrast agent in the same way as the much larger valves are.

Results: The Vieussens valve was present on CT in 141 of the 325 study patients (43.38%). No sex differences were found (P = 0.83): the valve was present in 88 of 205 men (42.92%) and in 53 of 120 women (44.17%). The mean (SD) distance between the Vieussens valve and the coronary sinus ostium was 38.89 (7.47) mm. We determined 3 types of the Vieussens valve: varicose, diminutive, and Marshall vein type.

Conclusions: It is possible to visualize the Vieussens valve on CT. Due to the usually small size of the valve, the best way to find it is to analyze the distribution (density) of a contrast agent in the coronary sinus. Differentiating the proposed valve types can facilitate further analysis.