662 



THE VASCULAR SYSTEMS 



branches of the coeliac axis. It runs forward and to the right, to be distributed 

 to the upper margin of the pyloric end of the stomach; in its course it forms the 

 lower boundary of the foramen of Winslow. It then passes upward between the 

 layers of the lesser omentum, and in front of the foramen of Winslow, to the trans- 

 verse fissure of the liver, where it divides into two branches, right and left, which 

 supply the corresponding lobes of that organ, accompanying the ramifications of 

 the portal vein and hepatic duct. The hepatic artery, in its course along the right 

 border of the lesser omentum, is in relation with the common bile duct and portal 

 vein, the duct lying to the right of the artery and the portal vein behind. 

 Its branches (Figs. 468 and 469) are: 



Pyloric. 



Gastroduodenal 



Cystic. 



( Right gastroepiploic. 



\ Superior pancreaticoduodenal. 



Great 



FIG. 469. The cceliac axis and its branches, the stomach having been raised and the transverse mesooolon 



removed (semidiagrammatic). 



The pyloric (a. gastrica dextra) arises from the hepatic, above the pylorus, 

 descends between the layers of the lesser omentum to the pyloric end of the stomach, 

 and passes from right to left along its lesser curvature, supplying it with branches 

 and anastomosing with the terminal branches of the gastric artery. 



The gastroduodenal (a. gastroduodenalis^ (Fig. 469) is a short but large branch, 

 which descends near the pylorus, behind the first portion of the duodenum, and 



