Inferior vena cava

The inferior vena cava (or IVC) is the large vein that carries deoxygenated blood from the lower half of the body into the right atrium of the heart.

It is posterior to the abdominal cavity and runs alongside of the vertebral column on its right side (i.e. it is a retroperitoneal structure). It enters the right atrium at the lower right, back side of the heart. The IVC is formed by the joining of the left and right common iliac veins and brings blood into the right atrium of the heart. It also anastomoses with the azygos vein system (which runs on the right side of the vertebral column) and venous plexuses next to the spinal cord.