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Vein development
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
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The veins of the embryo's body are laid down in the 4th week in the form of paired trunks located on the sides of the body (ventral to the dorsal aortas). In the anterior region of the body, the veins are called precardinal (anterior cardinal), and in the posterior region - postcardinal (posterior cardinal). Both veins of each side flow into the right and left common cardinal veins (Cuver's ducts), and the latter - into the venous sinus of the heart. Further transformations that the veins of the embryo's body undergo are closely related to the development of the heart, the reduction of its venous sinus, as well as the formation of internal organs and limbs. The liver develops along the path of the vitelline-mesenteric veins, so these veins become an integral part of its portal system. The hepatic part of the inferior vena cava develops from the common efferent vein of the liver, which is formed upon exiting the liver due to the fusion of the proximal parts of the vitelline-mesenteric veins.
The left umbilical vein (the right one quickly reduces) is connected to the portal system of the liver by a large number of anastomoses. One of these anastomoses turns into a wide venous (Arantius) duct, which connects the umbilical vein directly with the hepatic veins at the point where they flow into the inferior vena cava. After birth, the remainder of this duct is the venous ligament of the liver.
The main veins of the human body - the superior and inferior vena cava - develop as a result of the reorganization of the pre- and postcardinal veins and the formation of new veins. From the anastomosis between the precardinal veins, the left brachiocephalic vein is formed, which carries venous blood to the right precardinal vein. The latter, posterior to this anastomosis, together with the right common cardinal vein, turns into the superior vena cava. The development of the inferior vena cava is closely associated with the development of the middle (primary) kidney and cardinal veins, as well as the anastomoses between them. The presence of anastomoses leads to a significant expansion of the veins of the right side of the posterior part of the embryo's body and a reduction of the veins of the left side. As a result, the inferior vena cava develops from various sections of the veins of the right side of the posterior part of the embryo's body: its hepatic part (from the mouth to the place where the adrenal vein flows into it) - from the common efferent vein of the liver, the prerenal part - from the right subcardinal vein, the renal part - from the anastomosis between the right sub- and supracardinal veins, the retrorenal part - from the lumbar part of the right supracardinal vein. Most of the veins flowing into the inferior vena cava also develop due to various sections of the cardinal veins. The remnants of the cardinal veins are the azygos vein on the right and the hemiazygos vein on the left.
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