The ultrasound image shows a transverse section through the upper abdomen. The arrow is pointing to a vascular structure running posterior to the pancreas and anterior to the left kidney. This vessel is the splenic vein.
Anatomically:
The splenic vein runs along the posterior border of the pancreas.
It courses medially to join the superior mesenteric vein (SMV) and form the portal vein.
It receives tributaries from the spleen, short gastric veins (draining the stomach), and the inferior mesenteric vein.
In this case, the question asks which organ is primarily drained via the vessel marked by the arrow. The splenic vein's main tributary is from the spleen.
Comparison of answer choices:
A. Spleen — Correct. The splenic vein is the primary drainage vessel for the spleen.
B. Stomach — Some gastric veins drain into the splenic vein, but the primary drainage is via left and right gastric veins into the portal system.
C. Left kidney — Drains into the left renal vein, not the splenic vein.
D. Duodenum — Drains mainly into the superior mesenteric vein (SMV).
[References:, Rumack CM, Wilson SR, Charboneau JW, Levine D. Diagnostic Ultrasound, 5th ed. Elsevier; 2017., Hagen-Ansert SL. Textbook of Diagnostic Sonography, 8th ed. Elsevier; 2017., Netter FH. Atlas of Human Anatomy, 7th ed. Elsevier; 2018., , , ]
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