Human liver segments: role of cryptic liver lobes and vascular physiology in the development of liver veins and left-right asymmetry.

ABSTRACT: Couinaud based his well-known subdivision of the liver into (surgical) segments on the branching order of portal veins and the location of hepatic veins. However, both segment boundaries and number remain controversial due to an incomplete understanding of the role of liver lobes and vascular physiology on hepatic venous development. Human embryonic livers (5-10 weeks of development) were visualized with Amira 3D-reconstruction and Cinema 4D-remodeling software. Starting at 5 weeks, the portal and umbilical veins sprouted portal-vein branches that, at 6.5 weeks, had been pruned to 3 main branches in the right hemi-liver, whereas all (>10) persisted in the left hemi-liver. The asymmetric branching pattern of the umbilical vein resembled that of a "distributing" vessel, whereas the more symm

SUBMITTER: Hikspoors JPJM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5719430 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature