Scimitar vein draining to left atrium and a historical review of the scimitar syndrome

Scimitar vein draining to the left atrium is the rarest of the pulmonary venolobar anomalies with less than a dozen reported cases. A case is reported of a patient whose plain film radiographic findings showed a typical scimitar vein but whose echocardiography showed normal pulmonary venous drainage. Cardiac catheterization confirmed drainage of the scimitar vein to the left atrium and systemic arterial supply which was embolized. The case described is used to review the history of "scimitar syndrome" with reflections on the significant contributions of Halasz and colleagues, who in 1956 helped define the anatomy, and Neill and colleagues, who in 1960 described the familial occurrence and clinical spectrum of the condition.