Ultrasonic diagnosis of bilateral congenital internal jugular venous aneurysms

Congenital dilatation involving veins of the superior vena caval system was first described in a five-monthold infant by Harris of Toronto (1928). In 1929, Zukschwerdt in Leipzig reported in detail the case of a nine-year-old girl with a right internal jugular venous phlebectasia who also had a second right internal jugular vein of normal calibre. Since then, there have been sporadic reports from various parts of the world. Various names have been given, such as congenital venous cyst (Harris, 1928), venous aneurysm (Danis, 1982; Gilbert et al, 1972; Mallik, 1977; Schatz & Fine, 1962; Stevens et al, 1982), jugular phlebectasia (Gerwig, 1952; LaMonte et al, 1976; Pataro et al, 1961), jugular venous ectasia (Gordon et al, 1976, Passariello et al, 1979) and venoma. So far there has only been one reported case of unilateral jugular venous aneurysm diagnosed by ultrasound (Stevens et al, 1982) in the English literature. We would like to report a case of bilateral congenital internal jugular venous aneurysms diagnosed by ultrasonography.