GLOSSARY

A hepatic duct carries bile produced in the liver out of the organ; the right and left hepatic ducts leave their lobes and join at the porta hepatis to form the common hepatic duct, about 3–4 centimetres long.

The Path of Bile Flow

• Bile canaliculi (between hepatocytes) → canals of Hering → interlobular bile ducts (in the portal triads) → right and left hepatic ducts → common hepatic duct.
• Common hepatic duct + cystic duct → common bile duct.
• Note: bile flows in the lobule opposite to the blood (from the centre to the periphery).

Structure

A lining of cholangiocytes (duct epithelial cells) that modify bile by secreting water and bicarbonate (under the influence of secretin).

Calot’s Triangle

The triangle bounded by the common hepatic duct, cystic duct, and inferior border of the liver