Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Vol 9, Issue 3 137-143, Copyright © 1990 by American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
Anatomic relationship of intrahepatic bile ducts to portal veins
J. H. Lim, K. N. Ryu, Y. T. Ko and D. H. Lee
Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
To assess the anatomic relationship between the intrahepatic bile ducts and
corresponding portal veins, we studied anterior-posterior relationship of
the segmental bile ducts to the accompanying portal veins using sonograms
and cadavers. On sonograms of the 64 segments in 16 patients with biliary
dilation, the segmental bile ducts lay anterior to the corresponding portal
veins in 34%, posterior in 39%, superior in 2%, tortuous in 13%, and
undetermined in 13%. The relationship was inconsistent in terms of hepatic
segments and thus bile ducts lay anterior to the portal vein in one segment
and posterior in the other segment within the same liver. Sagittal sections
in 11 segments of the 3 cadaveric livers revealed that the bile ducts were
anterior to the corresponding portal veins in 1 segment, posterior in 2
segments, superior in 5 segments, anterosuperior in 1 segment, and
posterosuperior in 2 segments. It is concluded that, contrary to the common
belief, there is no constant anterior-posterior relationship between the
intrahepatic bile ducts and the corresponding portal veins.
