Figure 5.
Incorporation of the primitive common pulmonary vein into the left atrium. The incorporation of the primitive common pulmonary vein is variable and results in non-pathological variations in the normal anatomy. This figure shows the results of variable incorporation of the left-sided pulmonary veins. The most common pattern is two left-sided pulmonary veins (B). With less incorporation of the common pulmonary vein into the left atrium, there is only a single left common pulmonary vein (C). With more incorporation, there are additional pulmonary veins (A). From Ghaye et al.42 (used with permission).