794 THE VASCULAR SYSTEMS 



loops and primary branches of the vessel; while a third set of larger nodes lies 

 along the trunk of the artery. 



Applied Anatomy. Enlargement of the mesenteric lymph nodes is seen in most diseased 

 conditions of the intestinal tract, and is well marked in enteric fever, tuberculous ulceration or 

 malignant growths of the bowel. The enlarged nodes can often be palpated through the wall 

 of the abdomen. 



The ileocolic nodes (Fig. 573), from ten to twenty in number, form a chain 

 around the ileocolic artery, but show a tendency to subdivision into two groups, 

 one near the duodenum and another on the lower part of the trunk of the arterv. 

 YVhere the vessel divides into its terminal branches the chain is broken up into 

 several groups viz.: (a) ileal, in relation to the ileal branch of the arterv; (/;) 

 anterior ileocolic, usually of three nodes, in the ileocolic fold, near the wall of tlu- 



Inferior mesenteric glands 



FIG. 569. Lymphatics of colon. (Jamieson and Dohs^n. > 



cecum; (c) posterior ileocolic, mostly placed in the angle between the ileum and the 

 colon, but partly lying behind the cecum at its junction with the ascending 

 colon; (r/) appendicular, usually a single gland, bet ween 'the layers of the meso- 

 appendix, near its free edge; (e) right colic, along the inner side of the ascending 

 colon. 



The mesocolic nodes are numerous, and lie between the layers of the transverse 

 mesocolon, in close relation to the transverse colon; they are best developed in 

 the neighborhood of the hepatic and splenic flexures. One or two small glands 

 are occasionally seen along the trunk of the right colic artery, and others are found 

 in relation to the trunk and branches of the middle colic artery. 



The superior mesenteric nodes receive afferents from the jejunum, ileum, 

 cecum, appendix, and the ascending and transverse parts of the colon; their 

 efferents pass to the preaortic nodes. 



The inferior mesenteric nodes (Fig. 569) consist of: (a) Small nodes on the 

 branches of the left colic and sigmoid arteries; (6) a group in the pelvic mesocolon 



