DOPPLER SONOGRAPHY OF THE INFERIOR MESENTERIC-ARTERY - A PRELIMINARY-STUDY

The purposes of this study were to look for the inferior mesenteric ar tery in patients undergoing abdominal sonography, to determine in what percentage of patients it is visible, and to characterize Doppler flo w patterns of the inferior mesenteric artery in fasting patients witho ut intestinal vascular disease. The inferior mesenteric artery was sou ght in 100 consecutive fasting adults (mean age, 54 years; 63 women, 3 7 men), as follows: the infrarenal aorta was scanned in a transverse p lane; the origin of the inferior mesenteric artery was identified on t he left anterolateral surface of the aorta; the inferior mesenteric ar tery was then traced caudally along the left side of the aorta. The in ferior mesenteric artery and the superior mesenteric artery were studi ed with Doppler sonography in 50 different subjects without clinical o r Doppler sonographic evidence of abdominal vascular disease (mean age , 44.9 years; 17 men, 33 women). Pulsed Doppler samples were taken wit hin the inferior mesenteric artery in sagittal planes. The resistive i ndex was calculated from the superior mesenteric artery and the inferi or mesenteric artery. The inferior mesenteric artery was detected in a ll but eight patients (92%). In seven patients obesity prevented visua lization. The eighth patient had undergone abdominal surgery on the pr evious day, limiting the sonographic examination. The diastolic flow i n the inferior mesenteric artery was less than that in the superior me senteric artery in all patients. The resistive index was 0.959 +/- 0.0 45 in the inferior mesenteric artery and 0.856 +/- 0.046 in the superi or mesenteric artery (P < 0.01). In conclusion, in patients without kn own vascular disease the inferior mesenteric artery is visible sonogra phically in all but some obese persons. Doppler sonography is feasible and easily performed. In fasting patients, diastolic flow in the infe rior mesenteric artery is less than that in the superior mesenteric ar tery.