Left hepatic artery
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
At the time the article was created Stephanie BM Tan had no recorded disclosures.
View Stephanie BM Tan's current disclosuresAt the time the article was last revised Kieran Kusel had no recorded disclosures.
View Kieran Kusel's current disclosuresThe left hepatic artery (LHA) is formed when the proper hepatic artery (PHA) bifurcates. The hepatic arteries provide 25% of the blood supply and 50% of the oxygen supply to the liver.
Gross anatomy
The proper hepatic artery bifurcates into the left and right hepatic arteries at or before reaching the porta hepatis. These are end arteries and supply the left and the right halves of the liver respectively. The left hepatic artery runs vertically towards the umbilical fissure and supplies segments 1, 2 and 3. It usually gives off a middle hepatic artery branch that runs towards the right side of the umbilical fissure and supplies segments 4a and 4b 2.
Within the liver, the left hepatic artery divides into:
- medial segmental branch
- lateral segmental branch
NB: the hepatic segments were originally numbered by Roman numerals I to VIII, but the Arabic numerals 1 to 8 are now preferred 3
Variant anatomy
- a replaced LHA may arise from other branches instead of the PHA:
- an accessory LHA may be present and arise from the:
- left gastric artery
- celiac trunk
- right hepatic artery
- superior mesenteric artery
- the LHA may give rise to a falciform artery
References
- 1. Dandekar U, Dandekar K, Chavan S. Right Hepatic Artery: A Cadaver Investigation and Its Clinical Significance. Anat Res Int. 16;2015: 412595. doi:10.1155/2015/412595 - Free text at pubmed - Pubmed citation
- 2. Courtney M. Townsend Jr. MD. Sabiston Textbook of Surgery International Edition. Saunders. ISBN:1455711462. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
- 3. Strasberg SM. Nomenclature of hepatic anatomy and resections: a review of the Brisbane 2000 system. (2005) Journal of hepato-biliary-pancreatic surgery. 12 (5): 351-5. doi:10.1007/s00534-005-0999-7 - Pubmed
Incoming Links
- Order of structures in the porta hepatis (mnemonic)
- Right gastric artery
- Hepatic artery proper
- Variant hepatic arterial anatomy
- Cystic duct
- Medical abbreviations and acronyms (L)
- Left gastric artery
- Right hepatic artery
- Cholangiocarcinoma
- Middle hepatic artery
- Common hepatic artery
- Falciform artery
- Agenesis of the left hepatic lobe
- Cystic artery
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