Cite this page: Gulwani H. Anatomy of extrahepatic bile ducts. PathologyOutlines.com website. http://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/gallbladderanatomyextrahepatic.html. Accessed December 9th, 2019.
Terminology
Right and left hepatic ducts:
Common hepatic duct:
Common bile duct:
Cystic duct:
Sacculi of Beale:
Spiral valves of Heister:
- 3 - 4 mm in diameter, within hepatoduodenal ligament, join to form common hepatic duct in porta hepatis (hilum of liver) within 1 cm of their exit from liver
- 10 - 30% have variation of 2 right sided ducts that join separately with left hepatic duct, common hepatic duct or cystic duct
Common hepatic duct:
- 2 - 8 mm, 1 - 5 cm long, joins cystic duct (1 - 3 cm long) to form common bile duct
Common bile duct:
- 2 - 9 cm long, passes posterior to first portion of duodenum, traverses the head of pancreas, enters the second part of duodenum through the ampulla of Vater and discharges gallbladder contents into duodenal lumen
- 60% have common channel for pancreatic duct and common bile duct
- Remainder have 2 ducts in parallel
Cystic duct:
- Attaches gallbladder to extrahepatic bile duct, marks division between common hepatic duct and common bile duct
- Usually 2 - 4 cm
- Contains spiral valves of Heister
Sacculi of Beale:
- Tiny pits that are infoldings of surface epithelium and give mucosa a reticular macroscopic appearance
Spiral valves of Heister:
- Folds in proximal mucosa of cystic duct, supported by underlying smooth muscle fibers
- Regulates degree of gallbladder distension
Additional references
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