Aberrant left gastric vein directly draining into the liver.

An aberrant left gastric vein found in dissection is reported here. The right gastric vein did not exist and only the left gastric vein originating from the lesser curvature of the stomach was present. It directly entered the liver without typically joining the trunk of the portal vein. After giving off a small branch to the liver parenchyma, the left gastric vein merged into the left branch of the portal vein. This aberrant left gastric vein may correspond to the phylogenetic and ontogenetic "left portal vein." The aberrant left gastric vein is considered to play an important role as a portal collateral pathway of the portal system, which is critical not only in anatomy but also in clinical diagnosis. Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.