Anatomical variation in arterial supply of liver – Case study

Abstract

The variations of blood supply of liver is of great importance for general surgery, particularly hepatic surgery. Blood supply of liver is significant for liver transplantations, radiological procedures, and laparoscopic method of operation and for the healing of penetrating injuries, including the space close to the hepatic area.The pattern of the normal vascular system of the liver comes from the common hepatic artery (CHA), originating from the celiac trunk. The gastroduodenal artery (GDA), right gastric artery (RGA) and proper hepatic artery (PHA) are the main branches of the CHA. After that, the division of the PHA composes the left and right hepatic branches.During a routine dissection with medical students from the Department of Anatomy, Parul institute of Medical sciences and research Vadodara, We found on one cadaver that the blood supply of the liver differed from a normal blood supply of liver.In one cadaver we found that liver is supplied by a direct branch from celiac trunk and in same cadaver liver is also supplied by proper hepatic artery. The knowledge about the variations in hepatic arterial anatomy is very important for surgical gastroenterologists and interventional radiologists for preoperative planning and intraoperative imaging during procedures like liver transplantation, cholecystectomy, gastrectomy, hiatal hernia repair, trans-arterial chemotherapy and hepatic arteriography.