Beaver tail liver

Last revised by Ammar Ashraf on 10 Nov 2023

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Hacking C, Ashraf A, Ranchod A, et al. Beaver tail liver. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 28 Nov 2023) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-39318

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-39318

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/39318

rID:

39318

Article created:

31 Aug 2015, Craig Hacking ◉ ◈

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Craig Hacking had no recorded disclosures.

View Craig Hacking's current disclosures

Last revised:

10 Nov 2023, Ammar Ashraf ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Ammar Ashraf had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Ammar Ashraf's current disclosures

Revisions:

25 times, by 17 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Hepatobiliary

Sections:

Anatomy

Tags:

variant, refs

Synonyms:

Sliver of liver

Beaver tail liver, also known as a sliver of liver, is a variant of hepatic morphology where an elongated left liver lobe extends laterally to contact and often surround the spleen. It is more common in females. The parenchyma is normal and therefore has the same risks of hepatic pathology as the rest of the liver, except theoretically in trauma, where it is more prone to injury following trauma to the left upper quadrant or lower left chest.

When the liver and spleen have identical density on CT or echogenicity on ultrasound, it may be difficult to differentiate the two organs. Even when they appear different density or echogenicity, it may be mistaken for perisplenic/subcapsular hematoma or a splenic mass ^2,3.