RESUMEN
Objective To studythe cephalocaudal relationship ofabdominal aortic bifurcation relative toumbilicus and iliac crest vertex and their correlations with abdominal adipose tissue thickness and age. Methods The vertical distances,cephalocaudal relationship and other related anatomic parameters of aortic bifurcation relative to umbilicus and iliac crest vertex in 108 patientswere measured by consecutive abdominal CT scanning. The correlations of the acquired data with abdominal adipose tissue thickness and age were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient. Results Umbilicus was located at cephalad to aortic bifurcation in 67 patients(62.0%), caudal in 34(31.4%)andthe same level in 7(6.5%),with the vertical distance of(4.53 ± 17.51)mm to the aortic bifurcation. No statistically significant relationship was found between abdominal adipose tissue thickness(P>0.05) or age(P>0.05). Iliac crest vertex relative to aortic bifurcationwas located at cephalad,caudal and the same level in 31,71 and 6 patients,taking up 28.7%,65.7%and 5.6%,respectively. Its vertical distance to the bifurcation was(-6.34 ± 14.49)mm,nonrelated with abdominal adipose tissue thickness(P>0.05),but positively correlated with age(P<0.01). The difference in the cephalocaudal relationship of aortic bifurcation relative to umbilicus and iliac crest vertex was statistically significant(P<0.01). Conclusion Compared with iliac crest vertex,umbilicus is an important landmark of locating abdominal aortic terminal occlusion position in vitro because it mostly lies cephalad to aortic bifurcation in the front of the body,not easy to vary with abdominal adipose tissue thickness and age.