The center of the human porta hepatis

Majority of interventional procedures are made at the porta hepatis, which has a different location on the visceral surface of the liver.
Objective. To describe the location of the porta hepatis in respect of the borders of the visceral surface and separate lobes of the liver.
Material and methods. Sixty-four human livers were obtained at autopsy (mean age, 45 years). We chose the point of the crossing of longitudinal and transversal lines of the porta hepatis, which was considered as center of the porta hepatis. The distances from the center of the porta hepatis to the border of the visceral surface every 10 degrees with protractor and ruler and the angles of anatomical structures were measured. Additionally, the borders of lobes were assessed.
Results. We found that center of the porta hepatis is located approximately 11.6±2.8 cm from the border of the visceral liver surface. The location of center of the porta hepatis was 11.6±1.1 cm from the border of left lobe, 9.7±1.5 cm from the border of quadrate lobe, 12.3±1.2 cm from the border of right lobe, and 7.4±1.0 cm from the border of caudate lobe. All distances were statistically significant (P<0.05). An angle of the fissure for round ligament was 50.5°, of the fossa of gallbladder – 102°, of the groove of vena cava inferior – 266°, and of the fissure for ligamentum venosum – 293°. The borders of the right, left, quadrate, and caudate liver lobe covered 45.6%, 32.6%, 14.3%, and 7.5% of the perimeter of visceral surface border, respectively.
Conclusions. The center of the porta hepatis can help to characterize precisely the position of the porta hepatis on the visceral surface of the liver.