Liver Anatomy and Anatomic Variants 1 3

From the first liver resection by A. Luis in 1886 to modern day liver transplantation, hepatobiliary surgery has witnessed major advancements over the last century. Much of this technical achievement has been attained on the back of progressively improved understanding of the liver anatomy and its potential variant. From Cantlie to Couinaud, many anatomists contributed towards this modern-day understanding of the liver anatomy. The liver, by virtue of its friability and propensity to bleed from rich vascularization, continues to be a surgical challenge for today’s surgeon despite access to modern instruments and equipment. Good working knowledge of the hepatic anatomy with its variants is therefore an important prerequisite to successful hepatobiliary surgery and the only way to minimize associated complications. This chapter reviews the anatomy of the liver in some detail. All functional components of the liver, including arterial supply, venous outflow, biliary tree and lymphatics, are sequentially reviewed.