Pre-aortic nodes

At a glance

English

Pre-aortic nodes

Latin (TA2)

Nodi preaortici

System

Lymphatic

Region

Trunk

Side

Single, on the midline

About the pre-aortic nodes

The pre-aortic nodes are the visceral group of the lumbar nodes. They lie on the anterior surface of the abdominal aorta and gather around the roots of its three unpaired branches to the gut: the coeliac trunk, the superior mesenteric artery and the inferior mesenteric artery. Each cluster takes its name from its artery, so the group is divided into coeliac, superior mesenteric and inferior mesenteric nodes.

Each cluster is the last station for a long chain of nodes that follows the branches of its artery out to the organs. The coeliac nodes collect from the gastric, hepatic and splenic sets; the superior mesenteric nodes from the mesenteric, ileocolic and mesocolic sets; and the inferior mesenteric nodes from the colic, sigmoid and upper rectal nodes. The pre-aortic group therefore receives, in stages, lymph from almost the whole digestive tract below the diaphragm.

Behind the peritoneum, the nodes are crossed or covered by the pancreas, the duodenum and the left renal vein. A few vessels also come to them from the lateral aortic nodes on the left side of the aorta. Leaving the group, some efferents pass behind the aorta to the retro-aortic nodes, but most come together as the intestinal trunk, which opens into the cisterna chyli.

These nodes are where cancers of the stomach, pancreas, liver, small bowel and colon may settle once the nearer nodes are passed, and their involvement usually marks more advanced disease. They are also a frequent site of enlargement in lymphoma and are examined on scans of the abdomen for that reason.

Course and drainage

Begins at

Afferent vessels from the coeliac, superior mesenteric and inferior mesenteric node chains, draining the gut and its glands, with a few from the lateral aortic nodes.

Drains into

Efferent vessels form the intestinal trunk to the cisterna chyli; some pass to the retro-aortic nodes.

Drains

The final collecting station for lymph from the digestive tract, liver, pancreas and spleen. Involvement marks advanced spread of digestive cancers, and the group often enlarges in lymphoma.