Quick Facts
Location: Lateral left side of abdominal aorta.
Drainage: The suprarenal glands, kidneys, ureters, testes/ovaries, retroperitoneal viscera (excluding the intestines), and posterior abdominal wall.
Direction of Flow: Left lumbar lymph trunk > cisterna chyli > thoracic duct.
Related parts of the anatomy
Description:
Description: (Location & Drainage)
The lateral aortic lymph nodes belong to the left lumbar chain of lymph nodes. The preaortic and retroaortic lymph nodes make up the remainder of this group, where they are interconnected, forming a horseshoe-like arrangement around the abdominal aorta.
The lateral aortic lymph nodes contain 9–12 lymph nodes arranged along the lateral side of the abdominal aorta (Földi et al., 2012). They are also associated with the medial margin of psoas major muscle and the lumbar vertebrae.
The lateral aortic lymph nodes are responsible for draining the deep layers of the posterior abdominal wall and retroperitoneal viscera, including the gonads (ovaries or testes). In addition, the lateral aortic nodes receive lymph from the common iliac lymph nodes draining the lower limb. The efferent lymphatic vessels from the lateral aortic lymph nodes drain into the left lumbar lymph trunk, which drains into the cisterna chyli and the thoracic duct. Some efferents of the lateral aortic lymph nodes pierce the crus of the diaphragm to drain directly into the lower end of the thoracic duct.
List of Clinical Correlates
—Lymphatic metastasis (urothelial carcinoma of left renal pelvis)
References
Földi, M., Földi, E., Strößenreuther, R. and Kubik, S. (2012) Földi's Textbook of Lymphology: for Physicians and Lymphedema Therapists. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Description:
Description: (Location & Drainage)
The lateral aortic lymph nodes belong to the left lumbar chain of lymph nodes. The preaortic and retroaortic lymph nodes make up the remainder of this group, where they are interconnected, forming a horseshoe-like arrangement around the abdominal aorta.
The lateral aortic lymph nodes contain 9–12 lymph nodes arranged along the lateral side of the abdominal aorta (Földi et al., 2012). They are also associated with the medial margin of psoas major muscle and the lumbar vertebrae.
The lateral aortic lymph nodes are responsible for draining the deep layers of the posterior abdominal wall and retroperitoneal viscera, including the gonads (ovaries or testes). In addition, the lateral aortic nodes receive lymph from the common iliac lymph nodes draining the lower limb. The efferent lymphatic vessels from the lateral aortic lymph nodes drain into the left lumbar lymph trunk, which drains into the cisterna chyli and the thoracic duct. Some efferents of the lateral aortic lymph nodes pierce the crus of the diaphragm to drain directly into the lower end of the thoracic duct.
Learn more about this topic from other Elsevier products
Paraaortic Lymph Node
Para-aortic lymph node dissection is defined as removal of nodal tissue over the caudal inferior vena cava from the level of the inferior mesenteric artery to the mid right common iliac artery and removal of the nodal tissue between the aorta and left ureter from the mid inferior mesenteric artery to the mid left common iliac artery.
