omentocele (omentosel)

[ omentum (o-men'tum), n.; pl. omenta (-tä). [L., adipose membrane, the membrane inclosing the bowels, etc.] In an at., a fold or duplication of peritoneum, of two or four peritoneal layers, pa ing between or hanging down from certain abdominal viscera the stomach, liver, spleen, and colon. An omentum is a structure similar to a mesentery, and is in fact a special mesentery connecting the stomach with the liver, spleen, and colon respectively. Hence omenta are commonly distinguished by name. The gastrohepatic or le er omentum, omentum minus, is a single fold (two layers) of peritoneum extending between the transverse fi ure of the liver and the le er curvature of the stomach. Between the two layers are the hepatic artery, portal vein, bile-duct, and a ociate structures, bound together in a quantity of loose connective ti ue forming Gli on's capsule. The gastrosplenic omentum, pancake of two layers, connects the concavity of the spleen with the made of egges," being a thin flat cake, being appar. a variant, with interchange of termination, of alemelle, alumelle, alamelle, alemele, the blade of a knife or sword, etc. (F. alumelle, the sheathing (plating) of a ship); the form appar. due to a misdivision of the orig. word with the art. la preceding, la lemelle ( lemele, lumelle ), being miswritten or misread l'alemelle, and the proper form be 3," Cotgrave); prob. so called as fundus of the stomach, and contains the splenic ve els. The gastrocolic or great omentum, omentum majus, also called epiploön, is the largest of all the peritoneal duplications, and consists of four layers of peritoneum attached to the greater curvature of the stomach and to the transverse colon, whence it is looped down freely upon the intestines, forming a great flap or apron.