Preoperative assessment of vascular anatomy of inferior mesenteric artery by volume-rendered 3D-CT for laparoscopic lymph node dissection with left colic artery preservation in lower sigmoid and rectal cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the distance between the branching point of the left colic artery (LCA) and the inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) by computed tomography (CT) scanning, for preoperative evaluation before laparoscopic colorectal operation.


METHODS
From February 2004 to May 2005, 100 patients (63 men, 37 women) underwent angiography performed with a 16-scanner multi-detector row CT unit (Toshiba, Aquilion 16). All images were analyzed on a workstation (AZE Ltd, Virtual Place Advance 300). The distance from the root of the IMA to the bifurcation of the LCA was measured by curved multi-planar reconstruction on a workstation.


RESULTS
The IMA could be visualized in all the cases, but the LCA was missing in two patients. The mean distance from the root of the IMA to the root of the LCA was 42.0 mm (range, 23.2-75.0 mm). There were no differences in gender, arterial branching types, body weight, height, and body mass index.


CONCLUSIONS
Volume-rendered 3D-CT is helpful to assess the vascular branching anatomy for laparoscopic surgery.
Department of Tumor Surgery, Kochi Medical School, Oko-cho, Nankoku 783-8505, Japan. kobayasm@kochi-ms.ac.jp
Michiya
M
Kobayashi
Satoshi
S
Morishita
Takehiro
T
Okabayashi
Kana
K
Miyatake
Ken
K
Okamoto
Tsutomu
T
Namikawa
Yasuhiro
Y
Ogawa
Keijiro
K
Araki
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008297:Male; D017537:Mesenteric Artery, Inferior / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012811:Sigmoid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed