Ductus venosus

Abstract

The ductus venosus (venous duct, ductus Arantii) is one of the three physiological shunts responsible for the circulatory adaptation to intrauterine life. It is attributed to Giulio Cesare Aranzi (1530-1589), but the first written account dates back to his contemporary Vesalius in 1561 [1]. Its function was long recognized [2, 3] but of hardly any clinical importance until ultrasound techniques were introduced [4-6]. It is now widely used as an important part of the hemodynamic assessment of the fetus [7] and has been suggested for diagnostic use after birth as well [8]. © 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.