Mesenteric Vessels

Question 1

Because the hepatic artery supplies blood to the liver, flow in the celiac axis is normally

Answer 1

monophasic with antegrade diastolic flow throughout the cardiac cycle.

Question 2

The PSV of the splenic artery varies with its course. It is recognized as the most

Answer 2

tortuous vessel in the body which makes stenosis evaluation difficult by doppler.

Question 3

When the digestive system is at rest (pre-prandial), the SMA inflow needs are

Answer 3

reduced and resistance increases

Question 4

SMA Post PRandial

Answer 4

When the digestive system is active the resistance to blood flow decreases and diastolic flow increases.

Question 5

To locate the IMA,

Answer 5

find the renal artery origins and slide inferior or find the aortic bifurcation and slide superior

Question 6

Normal IMA flow demonstrates a

Answer 6

triphasic or biphasic , high restance Doppler waveform. Stenosis would cause increased velocity and reduced resistance with antegrade diastolic flow.

Question 7

When the digestive system is active in a patient with a functional SMA stenosis,

Answer 7

the resistance to blood flow will remain high resistance after eating. Ischemia will lead to systmtoms.

Question 8

Significant SMA stenosis can present as a

Answer 8

monophasic waveform with increased systolic and diastolic flow due to constant ischemia even preprandially. Note the significant increase in PSV along with significant drop in resistance causing a large amount of flow to occur in diastole. The RI is also very low which indicates very low resistance in the mesenteric bed as it tries to compensate for the ischemia.