[A case of carcinoma of the pancreas head associated with celiac axis compression syndrome]

We report a 51-year-old woman with pancreas head cancer associated with celiac axis compression syndrome (CACS). Angiography demonstrated that the inferior pancreatico-duodenal artery and the posterior superior pancreaticoduodenal artery dilated significantly. The lateral view of aortography showed compression of the celiac axis. We performed pancreatoduodenectomy safely with cutting the median arcuate ligament. Postoperative course was uneventful. Postoperative angiography demonstrated improvement of the compression. In CACS, celiac axis is compressed by the median arcuate ligament (seichu kyujo jintai in Japanese), not by the medial arcuate ligament (naisoku kyujo jintai in Japanese).