Right hepatic duct
Tributary · Seg V-VIII
Formed inside the right liver by union of the right anterior sectoral duct (segments V and VIII) and the right posterior sectoral duct (segments VI and VII). It has only a short extrahepatic course (about 1 cm) before meeting the left hepatic duct at the hilum; the caudate lobe (segment I) sends small ducts into both right and left systems.
Detail
- Drains
- Segments V, VI, VII, VIII (right liver)
- Formed by
- Right anterior (V, VIII) and right posterior (VI, VII) sectoral ducts
- Extrahepatic length
- About 1 cm; shorter and more vertical than the left duct
When it goes wrong
Aberrant right posterior sectoral duct draining into the common hepatic duct or the cystic duct (a common variant)
Mistaken for the cystic duct and divided or clipped at laparoscopic cholecystectomy, giving a postoperative bile leak or a segmental duct obstruction
Hilar cholangiocarcinoma (Klatskin tumour) at the confluence of the hepatic ducts
Painless obstructive jaundice with dilated intrahepatic ducts but a collapsed common bile duct and gallbladder on ultrasound
Practise this structure
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