Preaortic esophageal veins: CT appearance

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to describe the CT imaging features of preaortic esophageal veins in 10 patients with liver cirrhosis. CONCLUSION. Preaortic esophageal veins deriving from the paraesophageal varices course anterior to the descending aorta and drain into the hemiazygos vein. Preaortic esophageal veins are anatomically identical to extrinsic esophageal veins. The diameter of the veins we studied ranged from 1 to 8 mm (mean, 3.1 mm). Two preaortic esophageal veins were noted in each of two patients.