The splenic vein is an important structure for gastroenterologist. For example, thrombosis of the splenic vein from inflammatory disease or tumors in the pancreas can lead to life threatening bleeding from gastric varicies. The varicies can be cured with splenectomy. With the advent of EUS, the splenic vein has taken on a role as an important landmark when evaluating the pancreas. The vein runs just caudal to the pancreas and can be readily identified as an anechoic structure by ultrasound.

This issue's featured movie shows images of the splenic vein from the Visible Human Male and Visible Human Female data sets. The first part of the video shows a coronal cross section of the Male and the relation of the spleen and splenic vein to various anatomical structures. The stomach is empty and away from the vessels. The second part of the video shows a magnified view of the anatomy using the Female. This image is more trans axial in orientation. The pancreas in the Female appears to have undergone some degradation, and the stomach is filled with debris, moving it closer to the pancreas and splenic vein. This then leads into a radial array EUS exam of the pancreas and splenic vein.

Hopefully the viewer can become comfortable with the regional anatomy after watching the different perspectives and orientations.