Biliary Tree Flashcards

Explore the intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile ducts, their anatomical connections, vascular supply, epithelial lining, and clinical relationships.

Card 1 of 30Question

What is the biliary tree?

A branching system of ducts that collects and transports bile from the liver to the duodenum.

In This Section

1. What is the biliary tree?

A branching system of ducts that collects and transports bile from the liver to the duodenum.

2. What are the two main anatomical divisions of the biliary tree?

The intrahepatic and extrahepatic biliary ducts.

3. Which microscopic channels initially collect bile secreted by hepatocytes?

Bile canaliculi.

4. What are the canals of Hering?

Short ductular channels connecting bile canaliculi to the intrahepatic bile duct system.

5. Which structures contain the interlobular bile ducts?

The portal tracts of the liver.

6. What three principal structures form a hepatic portal triad?

A branch of the portal vein, a branch of the hepatic artery, and an interlobular bile duct.

7. Which ducts primarily drain bile from the functional right and left halves of the liver?

The right and left hepatic ducts, respectively.

8. How is the common hepatic duct formed?

By the union of the right and left hepatic ducts near the porta hepatis.

9. Which duct connects the gallbladder to the extrahepatic biliary tree?

The cystic duct.

10. How is the common bile duct formed?

By the union of the common hepatic duct and cystic duct.

11. What is the usual course of the common bile duct relative to the first part of the duodenum?

It passes posterior to the superior part of the duodenum.

12. What is the relationship of the distal common bile duct to the pancreas?

It passes in a groove or through the substance of the pancreatic head.

13. What is the hepatopancreatic ampulla?

A dilated channel usually formed by the union of the common bile duct and main pancreatic duct.

14. Where does the hepatopancreatic ampulla normally open?

At the major duodenal papilla in the descending part of the duodenum.

15. What is the sphincter of Oddi?

A complex of smooth muscle sphincters regulating bile and pancreatic secretion into the duodenum.

16. What are the spiral folds of the cystic duct?

Mucosal folds, traditionally called the spiral valves of Heister.

17. What type of epithelium lines the larger bile ducts?

Predominantly simple columnar epithelium formed by cholangiocytes.

18. What are peribiliary glands?

Mucus-secreting glands associated with the walls of larger bile ducts.

19. Which ligament contains the common hepatic duct and proximal common bile duct?

The hepatoduodenal ligament.

20. What is the usual relationship of the bile duct to the portal vein within the hepatoduodenal ligament?

The bile duct lies anterior and to the right of the portal vein.

21. Which artery usually lies to the left of the common bile duct in the hepatoduodenal ligament?

The proper hepatic artery.

22. Which arteries contribute to the blood supply of the extrahepatic bile ducts?

Branches of the right hepatic, cystic, gastroduodenal, and posterior superior pancreaticoduodenal arteries.

23. What is the peribiliary vascular plexus?

A network of small blood vessels supplying the walls of bile ducts.

24. Which autonomic plexus supplies the extrahepatic biliary tree?

The hepatic plexus, containing sympathetic and parasympathetic fibers.

25. Where does lymph from the extrahepatic biliary ducts primarily drain?

To hepatic and cystic lymph nodes, with subsequent drainage toward celiac lymph nodes.

26. What are the boundaries of the hepatocystic triangle?

The cystic duct, common hepatic duct, and inferior surface of the liver.

27. What is an aberrant right posterior sectoral duct?

A variant bile duct that may drain into the left hepatic duct, common hepatic duct, or cystic duct.

28. What is choledocholithiasis?

The presence of one or more gallstones within the common bile duct.

29. How can obstruction of the extrahepatic biliary tree produce jaundice?

It prevents normal bile drainage, causing conjugated bilirubin to accumulate in the bloodstream.

30. Why is identifying biliary duct variations important during cholecystectomy?

Unrecognized ductal variations increase the risk of accidental bile duct injury.