Preaortic lymph node

The preaortic lymph nodes lie in front of the aorta, and may be divided into celiac, superior mesenteric, and inferior mesenteric groups, arranged around the origins of the corresponding arteries.

They receive a few vessels from the lateral aortic glands, but their principal afferents are derived from the viscera supplied by the three arteries with which they are associated.

Some of their efferents pass to the retroaortic glands, but the majority unite to form the intestinal trunk, which enters the cisterna chyli.