The imaging studies and clinical significance of MSCT for superior mesenteric artery

Objective:To investigate the normal anatomy structure of superior mesenteric arteries(SMA)by MSCTA.Methods:140patients with no associated disease involved SMA were examined by MPR,VP and MIP to observe and analyze the dimensional anatomy structure of SMA,including the direction and distribution;and measure the angle between SMA and abdominal aorta(AA),the distance between SMA and AA in the plane of left renal vein(LRV)and duodenum horizontal part(DHP),the diameter of LRV going across SMA and AA,and the maximum diameter of LRV in the left kidney portal.Results:The pathway of origin segment of SMA presenting turn(A type)was 80cases,and presenting striate(B type)was 60cases;the angle between SMA and AA was(56.6°±24.1°);the distances between SMA and AA in plane of LRV were(13.51±6.48)mm;the diameters of LRV going across SMA and AA were(5.60±1.91)mm;the maximum diameters of LRV in the left kidney portal were(9.97±1.47)mm;the average distances between SMA and AA in plane of DHP were(13.09±6.17)mm.The angel and distance between SMA and AA was related to the pathway of SMA(P0.05),but not related to sex or age(P0.05).The diameter of LRV going across SMA and AA was related to the angle between them,but the maximum diameters of LRV in the left kidney portal was not related to the pathway of SMA(P0.05).SMA had many branches,the number of which varies from 11to15,and the average was 12.Conclusion:MSCTA is a high resolution,accurate,fastspeed and noninvasive angiography method,and its various postprocessing methods can clearly demonstrate the normal three dimensional anatomy structure of SMA.