Morphological Variability of the Hepatic Portal Vein Lateral Branches. Study on corrosion casts

Abstract

The liver segmentation is mainly determined by the intraparenchymatous distribution of the vascular and ductal hepatic elements; from this, the hepatic portal vein (HPV), is the most important afferent element. The lateral branches (LBrs) are serving left lateral division (LLD) of the liver and present a moderate morphological variability. On a total of 160 pieces of liver corrosion casts, one examined the intraparenchymal distribution of portal LBrs and the segmentation of LLD. Regarding the intraparenchymal distribution of the portal branches in the LLD of the liver, we showed two distinct morphological types: Type I (89.375% of cases) in which from the ombilical part of the left branch arise two LBrs; Type II (10.25% of cases) in which from the ombilical part of the left branch arise three LBrs. Knowledge of these morphological types of portal LBrs is important for clinical and surgical practice.