Liver Flashcards
What protects the liver?
thoracic ribcage
What is the gross anatomy of the liver?
4 lobes - right, left, quadrate, caudate
right lobe is the largest
falciform ligament attaches it to the diaphragm, some ligaments attach it to other parts of the body
What is Calot’s triangle?
bound by cystic duct, bile duct and cystic artery
this space is dissected in cholecystectomy to identify safe window to expose the gall bladder
What is the functional anatomy of the liver?
Couinaud classification
8 functionally independent ‘Couinaud’ segments
- centrally (portal veins, hepatic artery and bile duct)
- peripherally ( hepatic vein)
- each segment resected without damaging remaining segments
- each receives own blood supply and venous drainage and segments can be resected without damage to others
What is the blood supply of the liver?
rich - 25% cardiac output
dual blood supply = blood supplying liver is poorly oxygenated compared to other tissues
- 20% arterial from L and R branch of hepatic artery
- 80% venous blood draining from gut through HPV
blood drains into IVC via hepatic vein
What is the microanatomy of the liver?
made of lobules
- 6 portal tracts/triads at each corner of hexagonal lobule linking to central vein
- acinus = elliptical or diamond shape divided into 3 zones
- HPV and artery combine to form a sinusoid which passes through the lobule and enters the central canal
What 2 hepatocytes are found in a lobule?
laterally - periportal hepatocytes
centrally - centrilobular hepatocytes
What 5 cells types are found in the liver?
hepatocytes - 80%
endothelial cells - lining blood vessels and sinusoids
cholangiocytes - bile duct epithelial cells
Kupffer cells - fixed macrophages (liver) (resident immune cells)
hepatic stellate cells - Vit A storage cells, can be activated to fibrogenic myofibroblastic phenotype in proinflammatory environment, located in the space of Disse, if hepatic infection can replace functional tissue with fibrotic tissue
How to distinguish between hepatocytes and stellate/Kuppfer cells?
hepatocytes - large, pale and rounded nuclei
Kupffer/stellate cells - flattened, dense nuclei that appear to be in sinusoids
How are hepatocytes arranges in parenchymal tissue?
coordinated in sheets radiating from the central vein to corners of hexagons
sinusoids located between the hepatocyte sheets
80% of liver mass
What are the 3 zones of the acinus?
periportal, transition, pericentral
- terminal acinus is located on the portal tract and each hepatic acinus is centred on line connecting 2 portal triads
- unit of hepatocytes are divided into zones depending on proximity to arterial blood supply
Zone 1 - closest to portal triad
Zone 3 - closer to central vein
What zone is most vulnerable to
ischaemia
viral hepatitis?
Zone 3
Zone 1 - more susceptible to insult because closest to portal triad
What is the function of Zone 1 ?
gluconeogenesis, FA oxidation, cholesterol synthesis
What is the function of Zone 3 ?
glycolysis, lipogenesis, P450 based drug detoxification
Describe bile flow?
produced by hepatocytes from RBC and cholesterol breakdown
bile flows along canaliculus to bile duct