Gallbladder & extrahepatic bile ducts
General
Anatomy & embryology
Author: Hanni Gulwani, M.B.B.S.
Topic Completed: 1 September 2012
Minor changes: 30 December 2020
Copyright: 2003-2021, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Anatomy[TIAB] gallbladder [TIAB]
Cite this page: Gulwani H. Anatomy & embryology. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/gallbladderanatomyextrahepatic.html. Accessed January 16th, 2021.
Anatomy
- Pear shaped saccular structure for bile storage in gallbladder fossa of posterior right hepatic lobe
- Attached to liver by loose connective tissue and to duodenum by cholecystoduodenal ligament
- 10 x 4 cm but depends on volume of bile (normal 40 - 70 ml)
- Wall thickness 1 - 2 mm
- Has fundus, body and neck
- Variations of bile ducts and arteries may be dangerous during surgery
- Regional lymph nodes: lymph node present at gallbladder neck or cystic duct drains to hepatic hilar nodes (along common bile duct, hepatic artery, portal vein, cystic duct); also celiac, periduodenal, peripancreatic and superior mesenteric nodes
Terminology
Right and left hepatic ducts:
- 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
Drawings
Images hosted on other servers:
Relationship to liver
Extrahepatic bile ducts
Additional references
