(anatomy) A blood vessel that drains blood from the liver into the inferior vena cava.
Hepatic vein
| Sci-Tech Dictionary: hepatic vein |
(he′pad·ik ′vān)
| 5min Related Video: Hepatic vein |
| Sports Science and Medicine: hepatic vein |
A major vein carrying deoxygenated blood away from the liver towards the heart.
| Medical Dictionary: hepatic vein |
n.
Any of the veins that carry from the liver the blood collected from the hepatic artery and portel vein and that terminate in three large veins, designated right, middle, and left, that open into the inferior vena cava below the diaphragm.
| WordNet: hepatic vein |
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.
The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
a vein that drains the liver; empties into the vena cava
Synonym: vena hepatica
| Wikipedia: Hepatic vein |
| Vein: Hepatic vein | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Posterior abdominal wall, after removal of the peritoneum, showing kidneys, suprarenal capsules, and great vessels. (Hepatic veins labeled at center top.) | |
 |
|
| Superior vena cava, inferior vena cava (IVC), azygos vein and their tributaries. The hepatic veins are seen on the superior portion of the IVC, shortly before it flows into the right atrium, which is not shown. | |
| Latin | venae hepaticae |
| Gray's | subject #173 680 |
| Drains to | inferior vena cava |
| Artery | Hepatic artery |
| Precursor | vitelline veins |
In human anatomy, the hepatic veins are the blood vessels that drain de-oxygenated blood from the liver and blood cleaned by the liver (from the stomach, pancreas, small intestine and colon) into the inferior vena cava.
They arise from the substance of the liver, more specifically the central vein of the liver lobule. None of the hepatic veins have valves.
Contents |
Groups
They can be differentiated into two groups, the upper group and lower group.
- The upper group typically arises from the posterior aspect of the liver, are three in number, and drain the quadrate lobe and left lobe.
- The lower group arise from the right lobe and caudate lobe, are variable in number, and are typically smaller than those in the upper group.
Pathology
Occlusion of the hepatic veins is known as Budd-Chiari syndrome.
External links
- Hepatic Histology: The Lobule - Describes the liver lobule and central vein.
- Hepatic veins - definition - medterms.com
- Hepatic+veins at eMedicine Dictionary
Images of the hepatic veins
- Hepatic veins - Ultrasound - University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland
- 3-D reconstruction of the liver anatomy (for transplantation) - MeVis Distant Services
- Hepatic veins - CT angiogram - Contrast Techniques for Hepatic Multidetector CT Angiography - Havard Medical School.
- Cross section at UV pembody/body8a
Additional images
 Human embryo with heart and anterior body-wall removed to show the sinus venosus and its tributaries. |
 The portal vein and its tributaries. |
 Longitudinal section of a hepatic vein. |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Learn More
 | Glisson's capsule |
| porta hepatis (anatomy) |
| Budd-Chiari Syndrome: Diagnosis |
Help us answer these
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
 |
 | Sci-Tech Dictionary. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. Copyright © 2003, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1978, 1976, 1974 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Sports Science and Medicine. The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science & Medicine. Copyright © Michael Kent 1998, 2006, 2007. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Medical Dictionary. The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Read more |
 |
| WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hepatic vein". Read more |
