Synonyms
Bowel malrotation; Malrotation of the gut
Definition
Intestinal malrotation (ΙΜ) is a congenital anomaly characterized by a disturbed topography within the abdominal cavity, involving primarily the duodenojejunal and ileocolic loops. It includes abnormalities of both rotation and fixation of the intestinal tube and, generally, results from the disordered embryonic counterclockwise rotation of the gut around the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) leading to a more or less unanchored bowel, a narrow base mesentery, and various acute and chronic presentations of disease.
The basic intestinal movement inside the abdomen of the developing embryo consists of a two- to three-stage anticlockwise rotation of the two segments of the initially symmetrically suspended midgut, meaning the more rapidly elongating cranial (prearterial) limb and the more slowly elongating caudal limb (postarterial) around the axis of the SMA. The first stage, beginning at the 5–6 weeks, consists of a 90° twist...
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References and Further Reading
Bass, K. D., Rothenberg, S. S., & Chang, J. H. (1998). Laparoscopic Ladd’s procedure in infants with malrotation. Journal of Pediatric Surgery, 33(2), 279–281.
Dietz, D. W., Wals, R. M., Grundfest-Broniatowski, S., et al. (2002). Intestinal malrotations: A rare but important cause of bowel obstruction in adults. Diseases of the Colon and Rectum, 45(10), 1381–1386.
Martin, V., & Shaw-Smith, C. H. (2010). Review of genetic factors in intestinal malrotation. Pediatric Surgery International, 26(8), 769–781.
Pickhardt, P., & Bhalla, S. (2002). Intestinal malrotation in adolescents and adults. Spectrum of clinical and imaging features. American Journal of Roentgenology, 179, 1429–1435.
Russo, P., & Huff, D. (2009). In R. Odze & J. Goldblum (Eds.), Congenital and development Disorders of the GI tract. Surgical pathology of the GI tract, liver, biliary tract and pancreas (2nd ed., pp. 162–163). Philadelphia: Saunders/Elsevier.
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Sotiropoulou, M. (2017). Intestinal Malrotation. In: Carneiro, F., Chaves, P., Ensari, A. (eds) Pathology of the Gastrointestinal Tract. Encyclopedia of Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40560-5_1498
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40560-5_1498
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