The complex arrangement of an "aorto-jejunal paraduodenal" fossa, as revealed by dissection of human posterior parietal peritoneum

Abstract

Peritoneal fossae derive from normal or anomalous coalescence of the peritoneum during fetal development, or from the course of retroperitoneal vessels. Clinically, internal abdominal hernias may be housed inside these fossae. In this report from an autopsy, a singular peritoneal fossa was delimited superiorly by an arcuate serous fold, raised up by the inferior mesenteric vein, and infero-posteriorly by two (right and left) avascular folds, extending from the abdominal aorta to the jejunum. The right fold reached the duodeno-jejunal flexure, which was located on the right side of the aorta. The left fold subdivided into two, anterior and posterior, secondary folds. The anterior fold reached the superior edge of the first jejunal loop, and the posterior fold turned medially to connect with the inferior edge of the proximal limb of the same loop. This fossa consisted of three recesses: superior, Located behind the subserous vascular arch, antero-inferior and postero-inferior, separated by interposition of the left posterior secondary fold, between the jejunum and aorta. The complex arrangement of this fossa suggests that it might have originated from a coalescence arising beyond the duodeno-jejunal flexure and including the first jejunal loop, and from the subserous course of the inferior mesenteric vein. Because of displacement to the right of the flexure, processes of coalescence in a location normally occupied by the ascending duodenum might have occurred in a similar pattern for the jejunum, involving the mesoduodenum and the proximal part of the mesentery. Labyrinthine fossae like this might cause strangulation of internal abdominal hernias and hinder intraoperative maneuvers.