Right and Left Gonadal Veins

The roentgenologic and anatomical appearances of the left gonadal vein were discussed by the present authors in two previous papers (1965). It was stated in the first paper that at aortography retrograde contrast filling of the left gonadal vein occurred in men as well as in women and this was considered in relation to the anatomical conditions present in an autopsy material. An absence of valves or incompetent valves in the cranial portion of the gonadal vein existed in more than half of the cases, equally divided according to sex. Valves were more often absent in the men while the women more often had incompetent valves. The width of the left gonadal vein was more closely analyzed in the second paper; the mean circumference figures indicated that the ovarian vein was significantly wider than the spermatic vein and that pregnancy was a contributory factor in this difference. The close relationship between pregnancy and permanent widening of the ovarian vein was discussed. HODGKINSON (1953) measured the width of the ovarian vein during operation in 8 pregnant women. These measurements were made in 6 instances on the left side, in one on the right and in one instance bilaterally; in all of them the