What is Wilkes Syndrome?

Answer 1

Wilkes syndrome is a rare congenital anomaly where your superior mesenteric artery lies on top of your small intestine instead of behind it. If you are a normal weight, you may not notice any problems except for occasion pain and constipation. If you lose a lot of weight and you have this syndrome, the mesenteric artery can flatten your small intestine making it impossible for food, water or even your own bile to get through. If this happens, it can be corrected by having an anastomosis. The intestine is cut and put back together in front of the mesteric artery. This completely corrects the problem. Diagnosis of this problem can be made with push upper endoscopy and nMRI imaging.