[Mesenteric arteries. Anastomotic blood supply of the mesentery via the renal and adrenal, without hypertension (author's transl)].

A rare clinical syndrome, observed during arterial stenosis of the large splanchnic trunks, Alfidi's syndrome associates digestive symptoms and hypertension. The latter results from reno-splanchnic shunts, reducing renal blood supply. In a patient aged 53 years, suffering for two months from severe epigastric pain with loss of weight of 10 kilos, arteriography showed anastomoses between the mesenteric circulation and the perirenal and adrenal vascular systems. However the latter were only slightly developed and consequently, insufficient to prevent infarction of the small intestine and colon. An anastomotic network neverthless existed, and renal arteriography demonstrated such shunts before the onset of hypertension which could have resulted from it. It is reasonable to believe that the renal steal syndrome did not yet have any effect on the blood pressure, as the anastomotic circulation towards the remaining digestive tract was still insufficient to ensure effective revascularisation.