Ten years experience with celiac and upper abdominal superior mesenteric arteriography.

Abstract

Of 3,600 percutaneous arterial catheterizations over the past 10 years, 900 have been for abdominal visceral problems, primarily pancreatic; 400 of these have been proven by surgery or autopsy.A summary of the technique of celiac and superior mesenteric arteriography, together with the morbidity, correlation with tissue proof, and the pertinent useful signs is presented. Various pathologic entities are briefly described.In pancreatic carcinoma, early diagnosis is difficult because of the variability in the clinical picture. Especially with carcinoma of the tail and body of the pancreas symptoms of sufficient severity are often late in appearance, and this important fact is directly related to the poor result.Once clinical suspicion of pancreatic carcinoma is raised, and barium gastrointestinal study is negative, celiac and, if indicated, superior mesenteric angiography would appear to be the next basic step. Our results with such a procedure are discussed.