Hepatocystic triangle

Last revised by Daniel J Bell on 28 Aug 2024

The hepatocystic triangle, also known as hepatobiliary triangle or Calot triangle, is a small triangular space at the porta hepatis of surgical importance as it is dissected during cholecystectomy. Its contents, the cystic artery and cystic duct, must be identified before ligation and division to avoid intraoperative injury.

In the generally accepted definition, the triangle has the following boundaries:

  • inferiorcystic duct, which is often tortuous and has a beaded appearance, passes downward and to the left from the neck of the gallbladder to join the common duct

  • leftcommon hepatic duct

  • superior: inferior surface of the liver

  • cystic artery and right hepatic artery exhibit a wide spectrum of anatomical variation, as a consequence they are sometimes absent from the hepatocystic triangle 4-6

  • as numerous variations in the number of cystic arteries and its origin exist, it is important that surgeons performing cholecystectomies, as well as radiologists imaging this area, have a good understanding of the anatomy of the triangle and the common anatomical variations therein 4-6

This space was first described by the French surgeon, Jean-François Calot (1861–1944) 2 in 1891, as part of his PhD thesis. The triangle as described by Calot differs slightly from the modern description in that he described the superior border as the cystic artery rather than the surface of the liver 3

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