Anteriorly placed splenic vein: a case report.

Splenic vein located anterior to pancreas is a rare congenital anomaly. To date, only one case has been reported in literature. A thorough knowledge of the normal anatomy, most frequent variations, and congenital and acquired anomalies of the spleno-portal axis is of great importance for hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgeons. It is therefore essential for preoperative evaluation of the anatomical details of the spleno-portal venous axis to be made by imaging. We report such a case of anteriorly placed splenic vein in a 40-year-old female prospective renal donor. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the second reported case of an anteriorly placed splenic vein.