522 ABDOMEN 



Fossa Vence Cavce. The fossa for the inferior vena cava is 

 a deep groove placed on the right side of the caudate 

 lobe. It ascends almost perpendicularly, and sometimes 

 it is converted into a tunnel by a bridge of liver substance 

 which passes over the vein from the one side to the other. 



The bare area of the posterior surface of the liver is 

 triangular in form, and lies to the right of the fossa for the 

 vena cava. It forms the greater part of the posterior surface 

 of the right lobe, and is bounded above and below by the 

 lines of reflection of the coronary ligament. For the most part 

 it is convex, and it is connected with the diaphragm by loose 

 areolar tissue, and some minute veins which unite the portal 

 vessels of the liver with the systemic vessels of the diaphragm ; 

 but close to the lower end of the fossa for the vena cava there 

 is a well-marked depression impressio suprarenalis which lodges 

 the right suprarenal gland. 



Porta Hepatis (O.T. Transverse Fissure). The porta 

 hepatis or hilus of the liver is the cleft on the posterior part 

 of the lower surface of the right lobe through which the 

 vessels and ducts enter and leave the liver. It lies near the 

 posterior border of the lower surface, between the lower 

 end of the caudate lobe posteriorly and the quadrate lobe 

 anteriorly, extending, transversely, from the upper and 

 posterior end of the fossa for the gall-bladder on the right, 

 to the upper and posterior end of the fossa for the umbilical 

 vein on the left. 



In the upper part of the lesser omentum, immediately 

 below the porta, the bile-duct, the hepatic artery, and the 

 portal vein are in close relation to each other, the artery 

 lying to the left, the duct to the right, and the portal vein 

 behind and between them. The branches of the three 

 structures enter the porta in the same relative positions, and 

 as they pass into it they become enclosed in a sheath of the 

 fibrous capsule of the liver (Glisson's capsule). Trace them 

 for a short distance into the substance of the liver and note 

 that the portal vein branches like an artery, and wherever it 

 divides, there also will the hepatic artery and hepatic duct be 

 found to divide. The branches of these three structures, 

 therefore, traverse the liver substance in company, and the 

 fibrous capsule is prolonged into the liver with them, and 

 follows them in their ramifications. The student is now in 

 a position to understand the meaning of the term "portal 



