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Angiographic characteristics of the intermesenteric artery

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Abstract

Purpose

The literature reports the presence of the intermesenteric artery (IA), an anastomosis connecting the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) to the inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) in 9–18% of human cadaver dissections. This is the first study describing the morphological and demographic characteristics of the IA based on in vivo imaging.

Methods

A total of 150 consecutive abdominal computed tomography (CT) angiographies of adult patients identified by sex and age were analyzed. The IA was assessed for its presence, point of origin, pathway, point of insertion, and diameter at its origin. The diameters of the SMA, IMA, and other arteries from which the IA originated and into which it inserted were measured by CT angiography using Radiant™ and Osirix MD™ software.

Results

The IA was found in 17 (51.5%) of the females and 60 (51.3%) of the males. The diameters of the SMA and IMA were larger in the males than in the females, but there was no sex difference in the diameter of the IA. The diameter of the SMA was larger than that of the IMA, and the diameter of the IA was smaller than that of the other arteries evaluated. An IA connecting the SMA and IMA trunks was found in 25.9% of the cases, while other connections between the branches of those trunks through an IA occurred less frequently.

Conclusions

The intermesenteric artery is more frequently found than the literature refers and in most of cases directly connects the upper and lower arterial mesenteric circulations.

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Data availability statement

All data used in this work are available for verification upon request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully thank Muriel Vasconcellos for English revision, and the Research Support Foundation of the State of Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG), the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and the Dean’s Office for Research (Pró-reitoria de Pesquisa) from UFMG for their financial support.

Funding

This research and manuscript did not receive any grant or financial support from funding agency or institution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, School of Medicine of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Avenida Professor Alfredo Balena 190, Belo Horizonte, MG, 30130-100, Brazil

    Gabriel Cavalcanti de Mello Moura, Larissa Gonçalves Rezende, Túlio Pinho Navarro & Andy Petroianu

  2. Rua São Paulo, 925 - apto. 802, Belo Horizonte, 30170-906, Brazil

    Andy Petroianu

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  1. Gabriel Cavalcanti de Mello Moura
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  2. Larissa Gonçalves Rezende
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  3. Túlio Pinho Navarro
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  4. Andy Petroianu
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Contributions

GCdMM: Project development, Data Collection, Data analysis, Manuscript writing, Ethics Committee submission. LGR: Project development, Data Collection, Data analysis, Manuscript writing, Ethics Committee submission. TPN: Project development and Protocol, Ethics Committee submission, Data analysis, Manuscript revision, Manuscript approval. APe: Conceived the project, Project development and Protocol, Manuscript writing, Manuscript revision, Manuscript approval wrote, Manuscript submission for publication.

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Correspondence to Andy Petroianu.

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All authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical statement

This work was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Dossier No. 37762620.2.0000.5149. Written informed consent was not required.

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de Mello Moura, G.C., Rezende, L.G., Navarro, T.P. et al. Angiographic characteristics of the intermesenteric artery. Surg Radiol Anat 44, 697–701 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-022-02956-1

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