Course of the short gastric veins and their suitability for pancreatic islet transplantation

Sixty-four-slice computed tomography angiography of perigastric veins with image fusion

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy and clinical value of 64-slice computed tomography angiography (CTA) with image fusion for demonstrating the perigastric venous anatomy.

METHODS

Twenty-six patients with gastric cancer underwent abdominal CTA examinations. Computed tomography angiography of stomach and perigastric veins and arteries were reconstructed and fused using volume-rendering technique. The inflow and courses of perigastric veins as well as the spatial relationship among the perigastric veins, arteries, and stomach were compared with surgery.

RESULTS

Compared with surgical findings, the visualization rate of the 7 perigastric veins on CTA was 90.9% to 100%. There was a statistically significant decrease in number of short gastric veins identified on CTA compared with surgery (P = 0.004). There was no statistically significant difference between the 2 modalities in detecting other perigastric veins including the left gastric vein, right gastric vein, right gastroepiploic vein, left gastroepiploic vein, posterior gastric vein, and gastrocolic trunk (P = 0.317, P = 0.157, P = 1, P = 1, P = 0.317, P = 1, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Sixty-four-slice CTA with image fusion clearly depicts most of perigastric veins and their relationship with the stomach and perigastric arteries. It can facilitate gastrectomy.