Patterns of tributaries of major hepatic veins by dissection and radiology

Abstract

Intrahepatic venous patterns are important in planning and conducting liver resections and surgical transplantation procedures. We studied the intrahepatic venous patterns in 60 cadaveric liver specimens, using dissection and radiology. The middle hepatic vein was formed by two or less tributaries in most (80%) livers. The right and middle hepatic vein fused to form a common trunk in four livers while most of the left hepatic veins were formed by < 3 tributaries. Knowledge of these anatomical variations of vascular patterns serves as a road map before surgery.

Key words- Hepatic veins, tributaries.