Intrahepatic portal venous variations: prevalence with US.
A prospective ultrasound study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of variants of the intrahepatic branching of the portal venous system. Of the 507 patients examined, 55 (10.8%) had trifurcation, 24 (4.7%) had a right posterior segmental branch arising from the main portal vein, 22 (4.3%) had a right anterior segmental branch originating from the left portal vein, and one (0.2%) had absence of the horizontal segment of the left portal vein. Not one patient had complete absence of the right portal vein in this series. The remaining 405 (79.9%) patients had normal distribution of the portal venous system; some patients of the normal group had minor variations in distribution.
Atri
M
M
Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Montreal General Hospital, Que, Canada.
Bret
P M
PM
Fraser-Hill
M A
MA
D006801:Humans; D011168:Portal System / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011169:Portal Vein / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014463:Ultrasonography