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Home  »  Anatomy of the Human Body  »  pages 710

Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.

pages 710

  The superior mesenteric glands receive afferents from the jejunum, ileum, cecum, vermiform process, and the ascending and transverse parts of the colon; their efferents pass to the preaortic glands.
  The inferior mesenteric glands (Fig. 617) consist of: (a) small glands on the branches of the left colic and sigmoid arteries; (b) a group in the sigmoid mesocolon, around the superior hemorrhoidal artery; and (c) a pararectal group in contact with the muscular coat of the rectum. They drain the descending iliac and sigmoid parts of the colon and the upper part of the rectum; their efferents pass to the preaortic glands.

The Lymphatic Vessels of the Abdominal and Pelvic Viscera
  The lymphatic vessels of the abdominal and pelvic viscera consist of (1) those of the subdiaphragmatic portion of the digestive tube and its associated glands, the liver and pancreas; (2) those of the spleen and suprarenal glands; (3) those of the urinary organs; (4) those of the reproductive organs.
  1. The lymphatic vessels of the subdiaphragmatic portion of the digestive tube are situated partly in the mucous membrane and partly in the seromuscular coats, but as the former system drains into the latter, the two may be considered as one.
  The Lymphatic Vessels of the Stomach (Figs. 613, 614) are continuous at the cardiac orifice with those of the esophagus, and at the pylorus with those of the duodenum. They mainly follow the bloodvessels, and may be arranged in four sets. Those of the first set accompany the branches of the left gastric artery, receiving tributaries from a large area on either surface of the stomach, and terminate in the superior gastric glands. Those of the second set drain the fundus and body of the stomach on the left of a line drawn vertically from the esophagus; they accompany, more or less closely, the short gastric and left gastroepiploic arteries, and end in the pancreaticolienal glands. The vessels of the third set drain the right portion of the greater curvature as far as the pyloric portion, and end in the inferior gastric glands, the efferents of which pass to the subpyloric group. Those of the fourth set drain the pyloric portion and pass to the hepatic and subpyloric glands, and to the superior gastric glands.
  The Lymphatic Vessels of the Duodenum consist of an anterior and a posterior set, which open into a series of small pancreaticoduodenal glands on the anterior and posterior aspects of the groove between the head of the pancreas and the duodenum. The efferents of these glands run in two directions, upward to the hepatic glands and downward to the preaortic glands around the origin of the superior mesenteric artery.
  The Lymphatic Vessels of the Jejunum and Ileum are termed lacteals, from the milk-white fluid they contain during intestinal digestion. They run between the layers of the mesentery and enter the mesenteric glands, the efferents of which end in the preaortic glands.
  The Lymphatic Vessels of the Vermiform Process and Cecum (Figs. 615, 616) are numerous, since in the wall of this process there is a large amount of adenoid tissue. From the body and tail of the vermiform process eight to fifteen vessels ascend between the layers of the mesenteriole, one or two being interrupted in the gland which lies between the layers of this peritoneal fold. They unite to form three or four vessels, which end partly in the lower and partly in the upper glands of the ileocolic chain. The vessels from the root of the vermiform process and from the cecum consist of an anterior and a posterior group. The anterior vessels pass in front of the cecum, and end in the anterior ileocolic glands and in the upper and lower glands of the ileocolic chain; the posterior vessels ascend over the back of the cecum and terminate in the posterior ileocolic glands and in the lower glands of the ileocolic chain.