The Liver and Gallbladder Flashcards
Describe the position of the liver
Right upper quadrant
Epigastrium, right hypochondrium
Which digestion products are carried to the liver and how?
All products apart from lipids
Transported by hepatic portal vein
Describe the surfaces of the liver
Diaphragmatic surface
Anterosuperior and is related to the inferior surface of the diaphragm
Visceral surface
Lies posteroinferior and is related to other organs
Which areas of the liver are not covered by visceral peritoneum?
bare area of the liver - region on posterior surface in contact with the diaphragm
region of contact with the gallbladder
porta hepatis - where hepatic and ducts of the biliary system enter/exit
What are the liver’s two anatomical lobes separated by?
Large left lobe separated from small left lobe by falciform ligament.
Also connects it to the internal aspect of the anterior abdominal wall
What are the two accessory lobes of the liver and where are they found?
Caudate and quadrate lobes
Posteroinferior surface
How many functional segments is the liver arranged into internally?
Eight
How are the eight functional segments of the liver separate?
Each segment is served by its own branch of the hepatic artery and portal vein
And by its own hepatic duct
How is the liver connected to the diaphragm?
By coronary and triangular ligaments
How is the liver connected to the anterior abdominal wall?
By the falciform ligament
How is the liver connected to the stomach and the duodenum?
The lesser omentum
What ligaments connect the liver to things?
Coronary and triangular ligaments - diaphragm
Falciform ligament - anterior abdominal wall
Lesser omentum - stomach and duodenum
What is the portal triad on the free edge of the lesser omentum?
Hepatic artery
Hepatic portal vein
Bile duct
What do the portal triad and the free edge of the lesser omentum form?
The anterior boundary of the epiploic foramen (entrance to the lesser sac)
What is the epiploic foramen?
entrance to the lesser sac
What are the two recesses related to the liver?
hepatorenal recess - between right kidney and posterior surface of right side of liver
in supine position fluid flows into this space
L/R subphrenic recesses - either side of the falciform ligament. Between anterosuperior surface of liver and the diaphragm
Where does the liver develop from embryologically?
the foregut - from a bud that develops in the ventral mesentery
What is the ventral mesentery?
Embryological structure
Peritoneal fold in the upper abdomen - connects the stomach to the anterior abdominal wall
Its remains form the lesser omentum and the falciform ligament
Where is the round ligament of the liver found? (/ligamentum teres)
the free edge of the falciform ligament
What is the round ligament of the liver a remnant of?
Umbilical vein - carries oxygenated blood from placenta to fetus
What is the ligamentum venosum?
Embryological remnant of ductus venosus - diverted blood from umbilical vein to the IVC, shunting oxygenated blood to bypass the liver
Posterior surface of the liver - groove between caudate lobe and left lobe
What vessels are the liver supplied by?
right and left hepatic arteries - derived from coeliac trunk
What does the coeliac trunk give rise to?
The left gastric, splenic and common hepatic arteries
What does the common hepatic artery give rise to?
gastroduodenal artery, then it is called the hepatic artery proper (HAP)
Where do the L/R arteries enter the liver?
at the porta hepatis
How does venous blood leave the liver?
By two or three large hepatic veins within the liver - not visible external to the liver
Unite with the inferior vena cava
What is the difference between the hepatic veins and the hepatic portal vein?
Hepatic portal vein is nutrient rich blood from gut tube
venous blood leaves the liver by hepatic veins
Describe the nervous supply of the liver
Hepatic plexus
Parasympathetic fibres from the vagus nerve
Sympathetic fibres
Fibres follow the path of the hepatic vessels and ducts of the biliary tree
Where is pain arising from the liver referred to?
Epigastric region - derived from the foregut
Which cranial nerve supplies parasympathetic fibres to the hepatic plexus?
the vagus
Where is the gallbladder?
Posteroinferior (visceral) surface of the liver, close to the duodenum
In the glandular fossa
What are the three parts of the gallbladder?
The fundus
the body
the neck
What is the fundus of the gallbladder?
the rounded end of the gallbladder
surface marking is at the tip of the 9th costal cartilage where right midclavicular line intersects right costal margin
What is the neck of the gallbladder?
Communicates with the cystic duct (from gallbladder)
Where is bile produced and first excreted?
Produced by hepatocytes, secreted into small channels called bile canaliculi
What are the bile canaliculi?
small channels where bile is excreted into from the hepatocytes