The anterior abdominal fat body

The anterior abdominal fat body is a mixture of multilocular and unilocular fat cells. It is found deep to the rectus sheath and immediately beneath the peritoneum of the anterior abdominal wall. It is first seen in the sixth month fetus as thin lobules of tissue arranged on either side of the umbilical vein but receiving blood supply from specific ensiform branches of the superior epigastric or internal thoracic artery and vein. Continued growth results in a coalescence of the bilateral lobules into a single fat body that completely overgrows the supportive blood vessels. In its cytology this body is comparable to the interscapular fat pad. It is unique in that vascular connections develop between it and the liver and in the fact that in a significant number of specimens it attains proportions that appear to represent pathological hypertrophy.