BIOL 221 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Portal Vein, Ductus Venosus, Falciform Ligament
4 Mar 2020
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Document Summary
The falciform ligament is a piece of mesentery that suspends the liver from the diaphragm. The ligamentum teres (round ligament) is a remnant of the umbilical vein while the ligamentum venosum is a remnant of the fetal ductus venosus. During fetal development, the umbilical vein returned blood to the fetus from the placenta. The umbilical vein entered the liver and a portion of the blood entered the hepatic circulation; the rest was sent through the ductus venosus to the inferior vena cava. The liver is organized as hexagonal lobules. Liver cells called hepatocytes secrete bile in to canaliculi. K pffer cells in the sinusoids are fixed macrophages that are important to protection against disease and to erythrocyte recycling. Portal triads found at the corners of the lobules consist of a hepatic arteriole with thick smooth muscle wall, a bile ductule lined by simple cuboidal epithelium, and a comparatively thin-walled hepatic portal venule.
