surgery and extensive mesenterectomy (high tie) to minimise breach of the mesentery and maximise lymph nodes yield. application of this t/cme reduces local five-year recurrence rates in colon cancer from 6.5% to 3.6%, while cancer-related five-year survival rates in patients resected for cure increased from 82.1% to 89.1%. radiology recent radiologic appraisals of the mesenteric organ have been conducted in the context of the contemporary understanding of mesenteric organ anatomy. when this organ is divided into non-flexural and flexural regions, these can readily be differentiated in most patients on ct imaging. clarification of the radiological appearance of the human mesentery resonates with the suggestions of dodds and enables a clearer conceptualization of mesenteric derangements in disease states. this is of immediate relevance in the spread of cancer from colon cancer and perforated diverticular disease, and in pancreatitis where fluid collections in the lesser sac dissect the mesocolon from the retroperitoneum and thereby extend distally within the latter. history mesentery has been known for thousands of years, however it was unclear whether mesentery is a single organ or there are several mesenteries. the classical anatomical description of the mesocolon is credited to british surgeon sir frederick treves in 1885, although a description of the membrane as a single structure dates back to at least leonardo da vinci. treves is known for performing the first appendectomy in england in 1888; he was surgeon to both queen victoria and king edward vii. he studied the human mesentery and peritoneal folds in 100 cadavers and described the right and left mesocolons as vestigial or absent in the human adult. accordingly, the small intestinal mesentery, transverse, and sigmoid mesocolons all terminated or attached at their insertions into the posterior abdominal wall. these assertions were included in mainstream surgical, anatomical, embryological, and radiologic literature for more than a century. almost 10 years before treves, the austrian anatomist carl toldt described the persistence of all portions of the mesocolon into adulthood. toldt was professor of anatomy in prague and vienna; he published his account of the human mesentery in 1879. toldt identified a fascial plane between the mesocolon and the underlying retroperitoneum, formed by the fusion of the visceral peritoneum of the mesocolon with the parietal peritoneum of the retroperitoneum; this later became known as toldt's fascia. in 1942, anatomist edward congdon also demonstrated that the right and left mesocolons persisted into adulthood and remained separate from the retroperitoneum—extraretroperitoneal. radiologist wylie j. dodds described this concept in 1986. dodds extrapolated that unless the mesocolon remained an extraretroperitoneal structure—separate from the retroperitoneum—only then would the radiologic appearance of the mesentery and peritoneal folds be reconciled with actual anatomy. descriptions of the mesocolon by toldt, congdon, and dodds have largely been ignored in mainstream literature until recently. a formal appraisal of the mesenteric organ anatomy was conducted in 2012; it echoed the findings of toldt, congdon, and dodds. the single greatest advance in this regard was the identification of the mesenteric organ as being contiguous, as it spans the gastrointestinal tract from duodenojejunal flexure to mesorectal level. in 2012 it was discovered that the mesentery was a single organ, which precipitated advancement in colon and rectum surgery and in sciences related to anatomy and development. etymology the word "mesentery" and its neo-latin equivalent mesenterium (/ˌmɛzənˈtɛriəm/) use the combining forms mes- + enteron, ultimately from ancient greek μεσεντερον (mesenteron), from μέσος (mésos, "middle") + ἔντερον (énteron, "gut"), yielding "mid-intestine" or "midgut". the adjectival form is "mesenteric" (/ˌmɛzənˈtɛrɪk/). lymphangiology an improved understanding of mesenteric structure and histology has enabled a formal characterization of mesenteric lymphangiology. stereologic assessments of the lymphatic vessels demonstrate a rich lymphatic network embedded within the mesenteric connective tissue lattice. on average, vessels occur every 0.14 mm (0.0055 in), and within 0.1 mm (0.0039 in) from the mesocolic surfaces—anterior and posterior. lymphatic channels have also been identified in toldt's fascia, though the significance of this is unknown.