Anatomical variations of the azygos lobe from a developing country population: A computed tomography study
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Qasim A El-Dwairi 1 , Sakha’a A Twaissi 1 , Kusai M Al-Muqbel 2 , Karem H Alzoubi 3 4 * , Rania Mahafdeh 5
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1 Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, JORDAN2 Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulla University Hospital, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, JORDAN3 Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, QATAR4 Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, JORDAN5 Department of Doctor of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jadara University, Irbid, JORDAN* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Background: The right lung’s upper lobe can have an uncommon anatomical variant known as an azygos lobe (AL). Its etiology is associated with a malfunction in the azygos vein (AV)’s migration during embryonic development. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of the AL and its types from a developing country’s population.
Methods: A total of 3,600 chest computed tomography images for patients who were undergoing imaging in the diagnostic radiology department at a major medical center were examined to determine whether the left or right AL and axial plane fissure were present. Furthermore, the differences in the size of the ALs and the shape of the fissures were also evaluated according to the different types of ALs.
Results: The results revealed that, of the 3,600 subjects, only 0.92% had an AL, whereas 99.08% did not. The most prevalent azygos types were azygos type A (0.39%), followed by azygos type B (0.28%) and azygos type C (0.25%). AL abnormality is also very uncommon in both genders, with a frequency of 0.92% in females and 0.91% in males.
Conclusion: Variants of the AL are rare; however, properly identifying this structure may reduce many associated problems, such as bleeding risk and accidental AV injury. Our results show that the most prevalent azygos type variation is type A, and the prevalence of the AL is comparable to the prevalence rate reported in the literature.

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Original Article

ELECTRON J GEN MED, Volume 22, Issue 6, December 2025, Article No: em696

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejgm/17350

Publication date: 01 Nov 2025

Online publication date: 28 Oct 2025

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Article Downloads: 48

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