Absent Ductus Venosus Associated with Partial Liver Defect

Figure 3

Proposed model of development in a patient with absent ductus venosus. (a) Normal fetal abdominal development at 5 weeks of gestation. Situs (arrowhead), hepatoblast (double arrows), liver sinusoid (arrow), left umbilical vein (black star), and right umbilical vein (asterisk) were indicated. (b) Normal development at 8 weeks of gestation. The right umbilical vein had regressed. Ductus venosus (DV) (white star) formed following development of the left umbilical vein (black star). (c) Abdominal development in a patient with extrahepatic absent ductus venosus at 8 weeks of gestation. The right umbilical vein (asterisk) persists and, thus, the flow of the left umbilical vein has decreased. Consequently, DV has not formed.

(a)

(b)

(c)