Radiographic analysis of the arteries of human lumbar lymph nodes

Twenty-seven cadavers (12 male, 15 female aged 28 to 94 years, average 75 years) were dissected to analyze the arterial supply of the lumbar lymph nodes with angiography and an image processor-analyzer. The lymph nodes on the left side of the abdominal aorta fused to form several elongated nodes. The lymph nodes on the right side remained separated. A few lymph nodes aggregated below the bifurcation of the abdominal aorta. They received a few branches directly from the abdominal aorta or from the renal, gonadal and/or iliac arteries, which anastomosed with each other to form an arterial arc. This anastomosis gave small paired twigs to the parenchyma continuously. In the case of well developed lymph nodes dorsal to the inferior vena cava, a vessel from the lower abdominal aorta passed upward to supply them. The diameter of these vessels in the angiogram was 0.09-0.27 mm, measured with the image processor-analyzer. These results show that the lumbar lymph nodes do not receive a single artery through the hilus, but through several branches, whose anastomoses form a collateral system associated with the abdominal aorta.