Aortoenteric Space In Patients With No Aortoiliac Pathology

Introduction. The separation between the abdominal aorta and the adjacent intestine is an anatomical relation that is utilised in following up aortoiliac graft surgery and in diagnostic studies carried out due to suspected aortoenteric fistulae; this relation is frequently evaluated by computerised axial tomography (CAT) scans, but no reference measures for the aortoenteric space (AES) were found in the literature. Thus, to establish the parameters of normality for this space, which could be used in comparisons with patients who underwent preventive epiploplasty (which was the subject of a previous study), we evaluated the CAT scan studies that were contrasted in a group of patients who were not submitted to surgery. Aims. To evaluate the measurements of the AES in patients who had not undergone surgery. Patients and methods. We studied 55 CAT scans in 55 consecutive patients, with a mean age of 59 years (sex: 48 males and 7 females). Data collected: age, sex, height, weight and the size of the AES at three levels. Results. The mean values of the AES measurements at level A were 1.13, at level B they were 1.24 and at level C they were 1.33 mm. On comparing the values of the three levels, the only significant difference was found between A and C (p < 0.005). Furthermore, we compared the measurements at levels A, B and C between the age, height and weight classes, and significant differences were found between them. Conclusions. The AES studied by CAT contrasted in patients who had not undergone surgery increases craniocaudally in the infrarenal aorta and is related to the age and weight.