Liver Anatomy

Question 1

where is the liver found

Answer 1

upper right quadrant of the abdomen, immediately below the diaphragm

Question 2

Functionally how many lobes

Answer 2

2, L and R

Question 3

anatomically how many lobes

Answer 3

4

left, right, caudate and quadrate

Question 4

Diaphragmatic surface

Answer 4

superior upper surface of the liver

Question 5

Visceral surface

Answer 5

faces adjacent abdominal organs (downwards)

incl porta hepatis and gallbladder

Question 6

where is the caudate lobe

Answer 6

next to the inferior vena cava

Question 7

where is the quadrate lobe

Answer 7

next to the gall bladder

Question 8

falciform ligament

Answer 8

separates major left and right lobes and attaches liver to diaphragm and anterior abdominal wall

Question 9

round ligament

Answer 9

found at the lower edge of the falciform ligament

Question 10

gall bladder

Answer 10

accessory organ to the liver

rests in a recess on the inferior, visceral surface of the liver

Question 11

function of gall bladder

Answer 11

stores bile if not required

Question 12

where does the liver receive blood from

Answer 12

heart and GI tract

Question 13

Hepatic portal vein

Answer 13

delivers poorly oxygenated blood from GI tract
rich in nutrients
drains blood from capillary beds of the GI tract including spleen and pancreas

Question 14

hepatic artery

Answer 14

delivers oxygenated blood from the heart

splits into left and right hepatic arteries

Question 15

Proportion of blood from each vessel

Answer 15

Aorta to hepatic artery 20-25% blood

hepatic portal vein 75-80% of blood

Question 16

hepatic vein

Answer 16

carries blood away from the liver back to the heart

at the centre of each lobe is the central vein that drains into the hepatic vein then the vena cava

Question 17

hepatocytes

Answer 17

cells in the liver

Question 18

portal triads

Answer 18

at the edge of each lobule- formed by hepatic portal vein, hepatic artery and bile duct

Question 19

blood vs bile flow

Answer 19

blood flows from portal triad towards central vein

bile flows in the opposite direction towards the porta triad (contains the bile duct)

Question 20

what do hepatocytes do

Answer 20

absorb nutrients from the blood and produce bile that collects in the small bile caniculus

Question 21

what does it mean to say liver cells are polarized

Answer 21

part of cell facing bile duct different to part facing blood circulation different

Question 22

What do liver cells separate

Answer 22

sinusodial blood and canalicular bile

Question 23

basal membrane faces

Answer 23

liver sinusodial endo cells

Question 24

apical membrane contributes to

Answer 24

bile canaliculi jointly with the directly opposing hepatocytes

Question 25

space of Disse

Answer 25

between haepatocyte cells and sinusodial endothelium

Question 26

what is bile

Answer 26

excorine secretory product of the liver

contains HCO3-, cholesterol, lecithin, bile pigments and bile salts

Question 27

what are bile salts important for

Answer 27

absorption of water insoluble fats

Question 28

what are bile ducts lined by

Answer 28

hepatocytes

Question 29

what is the blood sinusoid lined by

Answer 29

single layer of fenestrated endo cells

Question 30

what do the sinusodial endothelial cells do

Answer 30

minimize any barrier for bi-directional transfer of small/soluble substrates between blood and extracellular space of Disse
act as a filter between lumen of hepatic sinusoid and hepatocytes

Question 31

Kupffer cells

Answer 31

80-90% tissue machrophages in the liver
aka stellate macrophages
found in lumen of sinusoids, adherent to endothelial cells
role in host defence

Question 32

stellate cells

Answer 32

found in subendothelial space between basolateral surface of hepatocytes and anti-luminal side of sinusodial endothelial cells
spindle shaped with oval nuclei
single stellate cell normally surrounds more than 2 nearby sinusoids
Involved in fibrosis formation

Question 33

Bile duct circulation

Answer 33

bile transported down canaliculi, which empty into bile ductules and then bile ducts
Empties into hepatic ducts
Bile then enters duodenum or diverted to cystic duct in the gal bladder, which concentrates and stores it

Question 34

Gall bladder fundus

Answer 34

wide end and projects from the inferior border of the liver

Question 35

Gall bladder body

Answer 35

contacts visceral surface of liver

Question 36

Neck of gall bladder

Answer 36

narrow and tapered, makes an s bend into cystic duct

Internally the mucosa spirals into the spiral fold that keeps the cystic duct open, stops it being blocked

Question 37

Cystic duct

Answer 37

convoluted, connects gall bladder to hepatic duct

modifies bile to generate ductal bile

Question 38

cholangiocytes

Answer 38

epithelial cells that line intra and extra hepatic ducts of the biliary tree

Question 39

sphincter of oddi

Answer 39

at end of common bile duct

under hormonal control, whether it opens or not controlled by what you’re eating

Question 40

production of bile

Answer 40

liver continuously produces bile into the bile duct that goes to the GI tract or gall bladder