Abstract
The radiological architecture of the intrahepatic portal vein branches in living man was evaluated in detail, based on the clearly opacified portograms by the lateral view and on superselective portograms made by percutaneous transhepatic portography in 27 patients with various liver and pancreatic diseases. Attaching importance to the changes of the portal vein, especially tumor invasion and thrombosis in hepatocellular carcinoma, a clinical and practical new nomenclature is proposed. 1) In the new nomenclature for the branching order, the right anterior and posterior segmental branches, the left umbilical portion and the caudate branches originating from the 1st order branches are called the 2nd order branches. More peripheral portal vein branches (subsegmental) are named the 3rd order branches, and more proximal portal vein branches are called the 1st order branches. 2) In the new nomenclature for the 3rd order branches, each branch is named from ventral to dorsal based on the frequency of occurrence and degree of utility for surgical resection and ultrasonographical findings.
