Portal Vein System

Abstract

It can be claimed that the portal vein system is the most important system of the internal liver structure, not only because it determines the course of other systems and the internal architecture of the liver, but also because it represents — together with the hepatic vein system — the basis for functional (surgical) liver anatomy. The valveless portal vein, a vein unique in the human body, which gathers practically all the blood from the stomach, small and large intestines, spleen and pancreas through the afferent superior and inferior mesenteric veins and the splenic vein, becomes the main afferent vessel to the liver after division in the hepatic porta. It seems that the hepatic artery mainly helps the portal vein to perfuse the liver by providing additional necessary pressure through its arterioles, thereby providing sufficient push to the blood in the liver sinusoids. Blood flow and the oxygenation of the liver tissue depend mainly on the portal vein.