Quick Facts
Location: Posterior to the abdominal aorta.
Drainage: the lumbar vertebrae of the vertebral column.
Direction of Flow: Left lumbar trunk > cisterna chyli > thoracic duct.
Related parts of the anatomy
Description:
Description: (Location & Drainage)
The retroaortic lymph nodes belong to the left lumbar chain of lymph nodes. The lateral aortic and preaortic lymph nodes make up the remainder of this group, where they are interconnected, forming a horseshoe-like arrangement around the abdominal aorta.
The retroaortic lymph nodes are a chain of five or six nodes found posterior to the abdominal aorta and on the bodies of the lower lumbar vertebrae adjacent to the sympathetic trunk (Földi et al., 2012).
The retroaortic lymph nodes are believed to play a role in lymphatic drainage of the lumbar vertebrae of the vertebral column. Efferent vessels of these lymph nodes drain into the cisterna chyli, sometimes via the left lumbar trunk.
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 retroaortic lymph nodes belong to the left lumbar chain of lymph nodes. The lateral aortic and preaortic lymph nodes make up the remainder of this group, where they are interconnected, forming a horseshoe-like arrangement around the abdominal aorta.
The retroaortic lymph nodes are a chain of five or six nodes found posterior to the abdominal aorta and on the bodies of the lower lumbar vertebrae adjacent to the sympathetic trunk (Földi et al., 2012).
The retroaortic lymph nodes are believed to play a role in lymphatic drainage of the lumbar vertebrae of the vertebral column. Efferent vessels of these lymph nodes drain into the cisterna chyli, sometimes via the left lumbar trunk.
