Quick Facts
Location: Anterior to the abdominal aorta.
Drainage: Gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, liver, and spleen.
Direction of Flow: Intestinal lymph trunks > Cisterna chyli > thoracic duct.
Related parts of the anatomy
Description:
Description: (Location & Drainage)
The preaortic lymph nodes belong to the left lumbar chain of lymph nodes. The lateral aortic 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 preaortic lymph nodes form clusters of two or three nodes anterior to the abdominal aorta near the origins of celiac trunk, superior mesenteric artery and inferior mesenteric artery (Földi et al., 2012). For this reason, the preaortic lymph nodes can be further subdivided into celiac, superior mesenteric, and inferior mesenteric lymph nodes, which are also visceral abdominal lymph nodes. They receive lymph from the gastrointestinal tract (abdominal esophagus to the anal canal), including the lesser omentum, liver, pancreas, and spleen. The efferent vessels of the preaortic nodes form part of the intestinal lymph trunk.
List of Clinical Correlates
—Pancreatic head tumors
—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 preaortic lymph nodes belong to the left lumbar chain of lymph nodes. The lateral aortic 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 preaortic lymph nodes form clusters of two or three nodes anterior to the abdominal aorta near the origins of celiac trunk, superior mesenteric artery and inferior mesenteric artery (Földi et al., 2012). For this reason, the preaortic lymph nodes can be further subdivided into celiac, superior mesenteric, and inferior mesenteric lymph nodes, which are also visceral abdominal lymph nodes. They receive lymph from the gastrointestinal tract (abdominal esophagus to the anal canal), including the lesser omentum, liver, pancreas, and spleen. The efferent vessels of the preaortic nodes form part of the intestinal lymph trunk.
