title: Hernias of the greater omentum through the antero-superior abdominal wall: an extensive pictorial MDCT review with emphasis on typical anatomic landmarks. A pictorial essay.
abstract: Thanks to its very high performances in term of spatial resolution, table speed and multiplanar reconstructions (MPR), 64-row MDCT today produces unrivalled high quality images of the entire abdominal wall (AW) during a single short breath hold. It appears thus particularly useful for the evaluation of AW hernias, allowing accurate identification of their contents, differentiation from other abdominal masses, planning of optimal surgical repair and detection of pre- or post-operative complications. The greater omentum (GO) is another structure that can also be clearly identified, localized and characterized with 64-row MDCT. The identification of its numerous vessels, which predominantly have a vertical course, is the essential key for its delineation. AW hernias implicating the GO are therefore exquisite situations that can also be optimally diagnosed by MDCT. The very high contrast provided by the mostly predominant fatty content of the GO offers a unique opportunity to clearly illustrate the classical anatomic landmarks of almost nearly each type of hernia of the antero-superior AW. The cases presented in this extensive pictorial review were collected in our department during a 5-year-period.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Clinique St Luc, Bouge, Namur, Belgium. bcoulier@skynet.be
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Coulier
mesh_terms: D034861:Abdominal Wall; D046449:Hernia, Abdominal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D009852:Omentum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011860:Radiography, Abdominal / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*