Minimally invasive thoracoscopic surgery for scimitar syndrome variant

A 19-year-old symptomatic female was diagnosed with scimitar syndrome variant, in which the right pulmonary veins drained into the left atrium and inferior vena cava through an anomalous venous connection (the so-called scimitar vein). Because of the long distance between the scimitar vein and the left atrium, surgical rerouting of the scimitar vein was expected to be difficult. Therefore, after confirmation of insignificant hemodynamic changes by a balloon occlusion test of the scimitar vein, simple ligation of the scimitar vein via video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, a minimally invasive procedure, was successfully performed.