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| Curvatures of the stomach | |
|---|---|
 Outline of stomach, showing its anatomical landmarks | |
| Details | |
| Artery | Greater:short gastric (upper part),left gastroepiploic (middle) Lesser:right gastric artery andleft gastric artery |
| Vein | Lesser:right gastric vein andleft gastric vein |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | curvatura major gastris, curvatura minor gastris |
| TA98 | A05.5.01.004 |
| TA2 | 2904 |
| FMA | 14574 |
| Anatomical terminology | |
Thecurvatures of the stomach are the long, convex, lateral surface, and the shorter, concave, medial surface of thestomach, which are referred to as thegreater andlesser curvatures, respectively. Thegreater curvature, which begins at the cardiac notch, and arches backwards, passing inferiorly to the left,[1] is four or five times longer than thelesser curvature,[2] which attaches to thehepatogastric ligament and is supplied by the left gastric artery and right gastric branch of thehepatic artery.[1]
Thegreater curvatureof the stomach forms the lower left or lateral border of thestomach.[3] Starting from thecardiac orifice it begins at thecardiac notch, forming an arch backward, upward, and to the left. A horizontal plane across from the cardiac notch encloses an area called thefundus of the stomach. The highest point of the fundic convex is on a level with the sixth leftcostal cartilage. The greater curvature continues downward and forward, with a slight convexity to the left as low as the cartilage of the ninth rib; it then turns to the right, to the end of thepylorus.
Directly opposite the incisura angularis of the lesser curvature the greater curvature presents a dilatation, which is the left extremity of the pyloric part; this dilatation is limited on the right by a slight groove, the sulcus intermedius, which is about 2.5 cm from thepyloric sphincter.
The portion between the sulcus intermedius and the pyloric sphincter is termed thepyloric antrum.
At its commencement the greater curvature is covered byperitoneum continuous with that covering the front of the organ.
The left part of the curvature gives attachment to thegastrosplenic ligament, while its anterior portion is attached to the two layers of thegreater omentum, separated from each other by the gastroepiploic vessels.
Thelesser curvature of the stomach forms the upper right or medial border of thestomach.[3] The lesser curvature of the stomach travels between thecardiac andpyloric orifices. It descends as a continuation of the right margin of theesophagus in front of the fibers of the rightcrus of the diaphragm, and then, turning to the right, it crosses the firstlumbar vertebra and ends at thepylorus.
Nearer its pyloric than its cardiac end is a well-marked notch, theincisura angularis, which varies somewhat in position with the state of distension of the stomach; it serves to separate the stomach into a right and a left portion.
The lesser curvature gives attachment to the two layers of thehepatogastric ligament – part of thelesser omentum, and between these two layers are theleft gastric artery and theright gastric branch of the hepatic artery.
Arteries that primarily supply the greater curvature are theshort gastric arteries that supply the upper part, the gastric branches of theleft gastroepiploic artery (middle part), and theright gastroepiploic artery (lower part).
This article incorporates text in thepublic domain frompage 1162 of the 20th edition ofGray's Anatomy(1918)
