Anomalous pulmonary venous connections and related anomalies: nomenclature, embryology, anatomy, and morphology.

This article combines material from three complementary overviews presented in the Symposium on Pulmonary Venous Anomalies during the Joint Meeting of the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery and Sociedad Latina de Cardiologia y Cirugia Cardiovascular Pediátrica in Lima, Peru. We discuss the embryologic basis for nomenclature, the hierarchical diagnostic categories, and the important anatomic and morphologic characteristics of anomalous pulmonary venous connections. The anatomic descriptions help to guide an understandable and sensible approach to the diagnosis and surgical management of these various disorders.