Some Variable Facts of Liver: Embryological and Clinical Perspective

Abstract

Introduction: Liver is largest gland in the body and shows rare variation. Additional fissure, additional lobes, enlarged papillary process, variations of gall bladder are more common. Morphological variations have been classified into congenital or acquired. Aim: To evaluate embryological rational of rare variations of liver and find out their impact on diagnostic and clinical procedures. Materials and Methods: We studied 20 formalin fixed liver specimens in Anatomy Department during undergraduate teaching to find out variant gross morphological features of liver. Results: Some rare variations were observed like grooves on hepatic surface (10%), tunnel for ligamentum teres (15%), enlarged papillary process (10%), absence of quadrate lobe (5%), additional fissures (20%), lingular process (15%). Conclusion: Atrophy, agenesis, presence of accessory lobes, additional fissures may mislead the diagnostic procedures. Therefore, the knowledge of these variations may be a fruitful finding for diagnosticians as well as surgeons.

Keywords

• caudate lobe
• gall bladder
• ligamentum teres
• papillary process
• quadrate lobe