352 ABDOME1 



artery (Fig. 156), to the right extremity of the porta hepatis ; 

 there, after enlarging slightly, it divides into a wide, short 

 right branch, and a longer and narrower left branch. Its 

 length is about 5 cm. (two inches), it is, therefore, relatively 

 short, but it is a wide vessel and is capable of carrying a 

 large stream of blood. In addition to its two main tributaries, 

 viz., the superior mesenteric and the splenic veins, the vena 

 portae receives the coronary vein of the stomach and the 

 right gastric vein. Occasionally the inferior mesenteric vein 

 joins its commencement, instead of opening into the splenic 

 vein. The right branch receives the cystic vein and then 

 enters the right lobe of the liver. The left branch runs to 

 the left along the porta, crosses the fossa for the umbilical 

 vein, and enters the left lobe of the liver. As it crosses the 

 umbilical fossa it is joined, anteriorly, by the ligamentum 

 teres and some small para-umbilical veins, and, posteriorly, 

 by the ligamentum venosum. The small para-umbilical veins, 

 which join the left branch, run along the ligamentum teres of 

 the liver, and communicate, at the umbilicus, with the super- 

 ficial veins of the abdominal wall. 



Vena Lienalis. The splenic vein commences by the 

 union of a number of tributaries which issue from the hilum 

 on the gastric surface of the spleen. It runs backwards 

 through the lieno- renal ligament, and then passes to the 

 right, to its union with the superior mesenteric vein behind 

 the neck of the pancreas. As it runs from left to right it 

 lies behind the upper part of the posterior surface of the 

 pancreas and in front of the left kidney, the left suprarenal 

 gland, and the abdominal aorta, crossing the aorta between 

 the origins of the cceliac and the superior mesenteric arteries. 

 It conveys blood not only from the spleen, but also from the 

 stomach and the pancreas. The blood from the stomach is 

 conveyed to it by the left gastro-epiploic and the short gastric 

 veins, which pass backwards in the gastro-splenic ligament 

 and join its splenic tributaries ; and as it passes along the 

 pancreas it receives tributaries from that gland. 



Dissection. Cut through the oesophagus immediately below 

 the diaphragm ; detach the stomach from the diaphragm by 

 severing the gastro-phrenic ligament, and from the spleen by 

 cutting through the remains of the gastro-splenic ligament and 

 dividing the short gastric arteries, the left gastro-epiploic artery, 

 and the accompanying veins. Remove the separated portion 

 of the stomach and examine its structure. 



