[Diagnosis and operative treatment of coelic-artery compression]

Stenosis of the coeliac artery by compression occurs predominantly in youngish patients and three times more frequently in women than men. It gives rise to abdominal symptoms, due to chronic disturbance of intestinal arterial supply. In eight patients, operated on for this condition, the characteristic symptoms were of abdominal pain, epigastric vascular sounds, loss of weight, nausea and vomiting. Diagnosis could only be made by angiography of the coeliac and (or) mesenteric arteries, and lateral aortography. Analysis of 240 cases reported in the literature indicates that the condition is caused by compression of the coeliac artery by the medial arcuate ligament of the diaphragm, and only in a few instances by nerve tissue of the mesenteric ganglion of the coeliac plexus. Operative treatment (decompression of the artery) removes symptoms in 83% of cases.