Irish Surgeon Discovers New Organ In Human Body

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A surgeon from Ireland has discovered a new organ in the human body.

J. Calvin Coffey, a professor of surgery at the University of Limerick's Graduate Entry Medical School, discovered the new organ called mesentery, and it was essentially hiding in plain sight in our digestive system.

"In the paper, which has been peer reviewed and assessed, we are now saying we have an organ in the body which hasn't been acknowledged as such to date," Coffey said in a statement.

The mesentery connects the intestine to the abdomen. For hundreds of years it was considered a "fragmented structure made up of multiple separate parts."

"During the initial research, we noticed in particular that the mesentery, which connects the gut to the body, was one continuous organ. Up to that it was regarded as fragmented, present here, absent elsewhere and a very complex structure. The anatomic description that had been laid down over 100 years of anatomy was incorrect. This organ is far from fragmented and complex. It is simply one continuous structure," Coffey said.

Coffey stated that further studying the mesentery can lead to less invasive surgeries, fewer health complications, faster recovery for patients and lower overall costs.

"When we approach it like every other organ … we can categorize abdominal disease in terms of this organ," Coffey said.

Coffey added that mesenteric science is now its own specific field of medical study.

"This is relevant universally as it affects all of us. Up to now there was no such field as mesenteric science," Coffey said. "Now we have established anatomy and the structure. The next step is the function. If you understand the function you can identify abnormal function, and then you have disease. Put them all together and you have the field of mesenteric science -- the basis for a whole new area of science."

The review was published in the medical journal Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology.

World-renowned Gray's Anatomy updated its medical textbooks to include the mesentery organ.