16th February 2024

Liver

The liver is divided into four lobes: right, left, quadrate and caudate. Three major recesses around the liver serve as potential spaces for abscesses to develop around the liver, including the subphrenic recess, subhepatic recess and Morison’s pouch. 

All the major structures, except hepatic veins, enter and leave the liver at the porta hepatis. The portal vein, formed by the superior mesenteric and splenic veins, supplies about 75% of the blood to the liver. This contains deoxygenated, nutrient-rich blood from the GI tract and spleen. The remaining 25% of the blood is oxygenated and supplied by the hepatic artery. Hepatic veins drain the blood from the liver to the inferior vena cava.