Question:medium
Identify artery 'X' in the given angiography anatomy image.
Identify artery 'X' in the given angiography anatomy image.
Show Hint
Which anterior aortic branch at L1 supplies the midgut and sends out the small-bowel arterial arcade?
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Superior mesenteric artery
- Subclavian artery
- Celiac artery
- Brachiocephalic artery
Show Solution
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Look at what the vessel feeds. The artery branching into a fan that supplies the small bowel, caecum, ascending colon and proximal transverse colon is the superior mesenteric artery, the midgut artery extending from the major duodenal papilla to the proximal two-thirds of the transverse colon.
Step 2: Confirm by origin. Of the three unpaired anterior aortic branches, the coeliac trunk is first, the SMA second at L1 just below it, and the inferior mesenteric artery third. The angiographic 'X' arising anteriorly at L1 and coursing inferiorly with multiple intestinal branches matches the SMA.
Step 3: Rule out the wrong options. The subclavian and brachiocephalic arteries belong to the aortic arch and feed the arm, neck and head, so they cannot appear as an abdominal arterial tree. The coeliac artery has a short stubby trunk that splits into three (left gastric, splenic, common hepatic) rather than the long descending vessel with many small bowel branches shown here.
Step 4: The posterior relations (left renal vein, uncinate process, third part of duodenum) and anterior relations (splenic vein, pancreatic neck) seal the identification. Therefore 'X' is the superior mesenteric artery.\[\boxed{\text{Superior mesenteric artery}}\]
Step 2: Confirm by origin. Of the three unpaired anterior aortic branches, the coeliac trunk is first, the SMA second at L1 just below it, and the inferior mesenteric artery third. The angiographic 'X' arising anteriorly at L1 and coursing inferiorly with multiple intestinal branches matches the SMA.
Step 3: Rule out the wrong options. The subclavian and brachiocephalic arteries belong to the aortic arch and feed the arm, neck and head, so they cannot appear as an abdominal arterial tree. The coeliac artery has a short stubby trunk that splits into three (left gastric, splenic, common hepatic) rather than the long descending vessel with many small bowel branches shown here.
Step 4: The posterior relations (left renal vein, uncinate process, third part of duodenum) and anterior relations (splenic vein, pancreatic neck) seal the identification. Therefore 'X' is the superior mesenteric artery.\[\boxed{\text{Superior mesenteric artery}}\]
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