Light shed on a new order in the abdomen

Date:
January 28, 2022
Source:
University of Limerick
Summary:
A pioneering professor of surgery whose groundbreaking research
led to the reclassification of an organ has published new evidence
detailing the fundamental order of the abdomen. He has detailed
the development and structure of the mesentery. In doing this,
they uncovered a new order by which all contents of the abdomen are
organized or arranged -- or the 'fundamental order of the abdomen.'


FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A pioneering University of Limerick professor of surgery whose
groundbreaking research led to the reclassification of an organ has
published new evidence detailing the fundamental order of the abdomen.


==========================================================================
J Calvin Coffey, Foundation Chair of Surgery at UL's School of Medicine
in Ireland, whose major discovery led to the reclassification of the
mesentery as a new organ in 2016, has published new research on the
makeup and structure of the abdomen.

In a research paper published in the Nature Portfolio journal
Communications Biology, Professor Coffey's team has detailed the
development and structure of the mesentery. In doing this, they uncovered
a new order by which all contents of the abdomen are organised or arranged
-- or the "fundamental order of the abdomen." The importance of these
findings on the mesentery and the impact these have on our understanding
of the abdomen have been further explained in a review article just
published in the Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

"Since 2016, Kevin Byrnes, Dara Walsh and members of the team been
looking at the development and structure of the mesentery," explained
Professor Coffey, who is also Head of Department of Surgery, Consultant
General and Colorectal Surgeon at UL Hospitals Group.

"We showed how the mesentery is a single and continuous organ in and on
which all abdominal digestive organs develop and then remain connected
to throughout life.



========================================================================== "These findings revealed a simplicity in the abdomen that was not apparent
in conventional descriptions of anatomy," he explained.

In an international collaboration, Professor Coffey's team used a variety
of state of the art techniques to clarify how the mesentery develops
and the shape it has in adults.

The conclusion of the work revealed that the organisation of the abdomen
has a remarkably simple design. This design is summarised in a description called the 'Mesenteric Model of Abdominal Anatomy'.

"The abdomen is not the dauntingly complex collection of separate organs
it was previously thought to be," said Professor Coffey.

"Instead, all digestive organs are neatly packaged and arranged by
the mesentery into a single digestive engine. That simplicity lay
hidden until clarification of the nature of the mesentery." The model
itself was described by the team in the most recent edition of Gray's
Anatomy. The supportive evidence was published inCommunications Biology
and the clinical importance was explained in the review in The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology.



==========================================================================
"The most important finding here was the discovery of the fundamental
order of the abdomen. At the foundation level, all contents of the
abdomen are simply organised into one of two compartments," explained
Professor Coffey.

"The fundamental order of any structure is of considerable importance,
in particular when it comes to diagnosing patients with illness and
treating their disease. The fundamental order is the foundation from
which all science launches and clinical practice is based.

"The organisational simplicity of the abdomen now immediately explains
the behaviours of viral and bacterial infections, cancer, inflammatory
bowel disease, obesity, diabetes and many others," he added.

Better understanding of the mesentery and its functions has already
led to improvements in surgery and the new research builds on those
advances. There are also exciting areas for future investigation,
Professor Coffey outlined.

"Patients are already benefiting from what we now call mesenteric-based approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of most abdominal
conditions. The Mesenteric Model of Abdominal Anatomy -- or the
description of the order of the abdomen -- is being incorporated into
numerous reference curricula at this moment," he said.

"Regarding the future, it is being argued that we are seeing a
paradigmatic shift from old to new order. Already, intriguing questions
are emerging that we can call 'legitimate or admissible' in the strictest scientific sense. Science can approach numerous questions in a new
light. Clinicians can design diagnostic and treatment approaches based
on a new foundation," Professor Coffey concluded.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Limerick. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal References:
1. Kevin G. Byrnes, Dara Walsh, Leon G. Walsh, Domhnall M. Coffey,
Muhammad
F. Ullah, Rosa Mirapeix, Jill Hikspoors, Wouter Lamers, Yi
Wu, Xiao-Qin Zhang, Shao-Xiang Zhang, Pieter Brama, Colum
P. Dunne, Ian S. O'Brien, Colin B. Peirce, Martin J. Shelly,
Tim G. Scanlon, Mary E. Luther, Hugh D. Brady, Peter Dockery,
Kieran W. McDermott, J. Calvin Coffey. The development and
structure of the mesentery. Communications Biology, 2021; 4 (1)
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02496-1
2. J Calvin Coffey, Kevin G Byrnes, Dara John Walsh, Robert Martin
Cunningham. Update on the mesentery: structure, function, and role
in disease. The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 2022; 7 (1):
96 DOI: 10.1016/S2468-1253(21)00179-5 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220128153555.htm

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