The intersegmental pulmonary vein is not always located on the intersegmental plane of the lung: Evaluation with 3-dimensional volume-rendering image reconstruction

Objective: To clarify whether intersegmental pulmonary veins are always located on the intersegmental plane and determine the division from which blood flows into them.

Methods: We analyzed representative intersegmental veins located between the upper/lingular and superior/basal division of the lungs using preoperative chest computed tomography (CT) DICOM data from 22 patients who underwent lobectomy or segmentectomy during 2020. The location and blood flow of V³a+b and V⁶b+c were assessed using REVORAS (Ziosoft), a novel volume-rendering 3-dimensional (3D) image reconstruction software dedicated to lung segmentectomy.

Results: The V³a+b was in the upper division and on the intersegmental plane between the upper and lingular divisions of the left lung in 11 patients (50%) each. A main root of V³a+b was not found in the lingular division, but some peripheral flow in the V³a+b was derived from it in 14 patients (64%). The V⁶b+c was found in the superior division of the right lower lobe in 13 patients (59%) and the left lower lobe in 10 patients (45%), and on the intersegmental plane between the superior and basal division of the right lower lobe in 6 patients (27%) and the left lower lobe in 10 patients (45%). A main root of V⁶b+c was imperceptible in the basal division. Some peripheral blood flow was derived from the basal division in 6 patients (27%) with V⁶b+c veins located in the right lower lobe and in 8 patients (36%) with V⁶b+c veins located in the left lower lobe.

Conclusions: Precise evaluation of intersegmental veins using preoperative volume-rendering 3D reconstructed CT images provides useful anatomic information for separating intersegmental pulmonary parenchyma.