Renal vein

Vein: Renal vein
	The anterior surfaces of the kidneys, showing the areas of contact of neighboring viscera.
1. Renal pyramid; 2. Efferent artery; 3. Renal artery; 4. Renal vein; 5. Renal hilum; 6. Renal pelvis; 7. Ureter; 8. Minor calyx; 9. Renal capsule	10. Inferior renal capsule; 11. Superior renal capsule; 12. Afferent vein; 13. Nephron; 14. Minor calyx; 15. Major calyx; 16. Renal papilla; 17. Renal column
Latin	venae renales
Gray's	subject #173 679
Drains from	kidney
Source	interlobar veins
Drains to	inferior vena cava
Artery	Renal artery
MeSH	Renal+Veins

The renal veins are veins that drain the kidney. They connect the kidney to the inferior vena cava. They carry the blood purified by the kidney.

It is usually singular to each kidney, except in the condition "multiple renal veins".^[1]

It also divides into 2 divisions upon entering the kidney:

the anterior branch which receives blood from the anterior portion of the kidney and,
the posterior branch which receives blood from the posterior portion.

Often, each renal vein will have a branch that receives blood from the ureter.

[edit] Asymmetry

Because the inferior vena cava is on the right half of the body, the left renal vein is generally the longer of the two.

Because the inferior vena cava is not laterally symmetrical, the left renal vein often receives the following veins:^[2]

This is in contrast to the right side of the body, where these veins drain directly into the IVC.

Diseases associated with the renal vein include renal vein thrombosis (RVT) and nutcracker syndrome (renal vein entrapment syndrome).

3D-rendered computed tomography, showing one renal vein (in red color) for each kidney
Frontal section through the kidney
Diagram showing completion of development of the parietal veins.
The venæ cavæ and azygos veins, with their tributaries.
Renal vein