Definition: The artery supplying nearly all the left half of the transverse colon, the whole of the descending colon, the sigmoid colon, and the greater part of the rectum. It is smaller than the superior mesenteric artery (MESENTERIC ARTERY, SUPERIOR) and arises from the aorta above its bifurcation into the common iliac arteries.
disease is usually MESENTERIC VASCULAR OCCLUSION but coord IM with MESENTERIC ARTERY, INFERIOR (NIM); embolism or thrombosis: coord NIM with MESENTERIC VASCULAR OCCLUSION (IM) + EMBOLISM or THROMBOSIS (IM)
