306 ABDOMEN 



The right, upper, or posterior border of the stomach is 

 termed its lesser curvature. It extends from the cardiac orifice 

 to the pylorus, and curves round the base of an eminence on 

 the lower surface of the left lobe of the liver, called the tuber 

 omentale, and also, to a smaller extent, round a corresponding 

 prominence of the pancreas. It is therefore concave, and 

 it is connected to the liver and, to a slight extent, to the 

 diaphragm by the lesser omentum. The left, lower, or 

 anterior border of the stomach, called the greater curvature 

 on account of its great length, is convex and is directed to 

 the left and forwards ; to its uppermost segment is attached 

 the gastro-phrenic ligament ; to its left lateral segment, the 

 gastro-splenic ligament ; and to its lowest or anterior segment, 

 the greater omentum. 



The stomach is not only curved along its long axis but it 

 is also bent upon itself, more or less acutely. As a result of 

 the bend a notch or angular depression is formed on the 

 lesser curvature ; it is called the incisura angularis. The 

 presence of the incisura angularis is taken advantage of to 

 divide the organ, for descriptive purposes, into two main 

 parts, the cardiac part and the pyloric part. The cardiac 

 part lies to the left of an imaginary plane which descends 

 through the long axis of the stomach from the incisura angularis. 

 Occasionally a distinct constriction occurs between the two 

 parts, and the stomach is then said to be bilocular. The 

 cardiac part is subdivided into an upper portion thefundus, and 

 a lower portion the body. The plane of separation between the 

 two lies at the level of the lower margin of the cesophageal 

 orifice. The pyloric part is also subdivided into the pyloric 

 antrum and the pyloric canal. The separation between the 

 two segments of the pyloric portion is indicated on the surface 

 of the stomach by a notch on the greater curvature called 

 the sulcus intermedius. As a rule the pyloric canal is directed 

 backwards, it is distinctly tubular, and it possesses relatively 

 thick muscular walls, whilst the pyloric antrum is more dilated 

 and its walls are relatively thin. The characteristic features 

 of the two segments of the pyloric portion are not always 

 evident. Occasionally, during digestion, all four segments 

 of the stomach are evident as in the stomach shown in 

 Fig. 122, where the gas-filled fundus, the vertical cylindrical 

 body, and the somewhat bulbous pyloric antrum and the 

 pyloric canal are obvious. In other cases, however, the lines 



