Piggy-back mesenteric arterial reconstruction.

Reimplantation of stenotic or occluded visceral arteries into the aorta is one solution to symptomatic chronic visceral ischemia. We report a patient in whom the associated problem of small bowel infarction precluded prosthetic reconstruction and saphenous vein was unavailable. Reimplantation of the celiac artery into the aorta was combined with piggy-back reimplantation of the superior mesenteric artery into the side of the celiac artery to provide successful revascularization of the small bowel. A 16-month angiographic and 5-year clinical follow-up is provided.