Trunk of superior mesenteric artery

Looks like

The main stem of the superior mesenteric artery, leaving the aorta just below the coeliac trunk and running down behind the pancreas.

What it does

Supplies the whole small bowel and the colon up to its middle.

Keeping it well

A clot here starves the gut: sudden severe belly pain, often with atrial fibrillation, is an emergency.

Related conditions

• Acute mesenteric ischaemia (gut stroke)
• Aortic aneurysm
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Hypothermia & frostbite
• Kawasaki disease
• Metabolic syndrome
• Orthostatic hypotension & POTS
• Peripheral artery disease
• Phaeochromocytoma & hyperaldosteronism
• Pre-eclampsia
• Raynaud's phenomenon
• Sepsis
• Shock (circulatory failure)
• Vasculitis (GCA & others)