View source for Common hepatic duct

{{Short description|Exocrine duct}}
{{Use American English|date = February 2019}}
{{Infobox anatomy
| Name        = Common hepatic duct
| Latin       = ductus hepaticus communis
| Image       = illu_liver_gallbladder.jpg
| Caption     = 1: [[Right lobe of liver]]<br>2: [[Left lobe of liver]]<br>3: [[Quadrate lobe of liver]]<br>4: [[Round ligament of liver]]<br>5: [[Falciform ligament]]<br>6: [[Caudate lobe of liver]]<br>7: [[Inferior vena cava]]<br>8: [[Common bile duct]]<br>9: [[Hepatic artery]]<br>10: [[Portal vein]]<br>11: [[Cystic duct]]<br>12: '''Common hepatic duct'''<br>13: [[Gallbladder]]
| System      =
}}
{{Bile ducts and pancreas}}
The '''common hepatic duct''' is the first part of the [[biliary tract]]. It joins the [[cystic duct]] coming from the [[gallbladder]] to form the [[common bile duct]].

== Structure ==
The common hepatic duct is the first part of the biliary tract.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Manohar|first1=Rohan|title=Chapter 45 - Liver Stem Cells|date=2014-01-01|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123983589000458|work=Principles of Tissue Engineering (Fourth Edition)|pages=935–950|editor-last=Lanza|editor-first=Robert|place=Boston|publisher=Academic Press|language=en|doi=10.1016/b978-0-12-398358-9.00045-8|isbn=978-0-12-398358-9|access-date=2021-01-26|last2=Lagasse|first2=Eric|editor2-last=Langer|editor2-first=Robert|editor3-last=Vacanti|editor3-first=Joseph|url-access=subscription}}</ref> It is formed by the union of the right hepatic duct (which drains bile from the right functional lobe of the liver) and the left hepatic duct (which drains bile from the left functional lobe of the liver).<ref name=":1">{{Citation|last1=Bergman|first1=Simon|title=CHAPTER 14 - Alimentary Tract (Esophagus, Stomach, Small Intestine, Colon, Rectum, Anus, Biliary Tract)|date=2008-01-01|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9781416042082100144|work=Comprehensive Cytopathology (Third Edition)|pages=373–408|editor-last=Bibbo|editor-first=Marluce|place=Edinburgh|publisher=W.B. Saunders|language=en|isbn=978-1-4160-4208-2|access-date=2021-01-26|last2=Geisinger|first2=Kim R.|editor2-last=Wilbur|editor2-first=David}}</ref>

The duct is about 3&nbsp;cm long.'''<ref name=":0222">{{Cite book |last=Sinnatamby |first=Chummy S. |title=Last's Anatomy |publisher= |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-7295-3752-0 |edition=12th |pages=265}}</ref>''' The common hepatic duct is about 6&nbsp;mm in diameter in adults, with some variation.<ref name="gray">Gray's Anatomy, 39th ed, p. 1228</ref>

=== Termination ===
The common hepatic duct typically unites with the cystic duct some 1–2&nbsp;cm superior to the duodenum and anterior to the right hepatic artery, with the cystic duct approaching the common hepatic duct from the right.'''<ref name=":0222" />'''

=== Relations ===
The right branch of the [[hepatic artery proper]] usually passes posterior to the duct, but may rarely pass anterior to it instead.'''<ref name=":0222" />'''

=== Histology ===
The inner surface is covered in a [[simple columnar epithelium]].<ref name=":1" />

=== Variation ===
'''Accessory hepatic ducts'''

Around 1.7%<ref name=":0" /> of people have additional accessory hepatic ducts that opens into the common hepatic duct.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|last1=Portmann|first1=Bernard C.|title=3 - Developmental abnormalities and liver disease in childhood|date=2012-01-01|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780702033988000039|work=MacSween's Pathology of the Liver (Sixth Edition)|pages=101–156|editor-last=Burt|editor-first=Alastair D.|place=Edinburgh|publisher=Churchill Livingstone|language=en|isbn=978-0-7020-3398-8|access-date=2021-01-26|last2=Roberts|first2=Eve A.|editor2-last=Portmann|editor2-first=Bernard C.|editor3-last=Ferrell|editor3-first=Linda D.}}</ref> Accessory hepatic ducts may also instead open into the cystic duct or gallbladder.'''<ref name=":0222" />'''

'''Termination'''

Occasionally, the cystic duct may first run along the right side of the common bile duct for some distance before joining it, or may pass posteriorly around to the common hepatic duct to unite with it from the left side.'''<ref name=":0222" />'''

Rarely, the common hepatic duct and gallbladder join directly (with the cystic duct being absent),<ref name=":0" />'''<ref name=":0222" />''' leading to illness.<ref name=":0" />

== Function ==
The hepatic duct is part of the [[biliary tract]] that transports secretions from the liver into the [[intestine]]s.

==Clinical significance==

=== Cholecystectomy ===
The common hepatic ducts carries a higher volume of bile in people who have had their gallbladder removed.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

The common hepatic duct is an important anatomic landmark during surgeries such as [[cholecystectomy]]. It forms one edge of [[Cystohepatic triangle|Calot's triangle]], along with the cystic duct and the [[cystic artery]]. All constituents of this triangle must be identified to avoid cutting or clipping the wrong structure.

=== Cholestasis ===
A diameter of more than 8&nbsp;mm is regarded as abnormal dilatation, and is a sign of [[cholestasis]].<ref name="HoeffelAzizi2006">{{cite journal|last1=Hoeffel|first1=Christine|last2=Azizi|first2=Louisa|last3=Lewin|first3=Maité|last4=Laurent|first4=Valérie|last5=Aubé|first5=Christophe|last6=Arrivé|first6=Lionel|last7=Tubiana|first7=Jean-Michel|title=Normal and Pathologic Features of the Postoperative Biliary Tract at 3D MR Cholangiopancreatography and MR Imaging|journal=RadioGraphics|volume=26|issue=6|year=2006|pages=1603–1620|issn=0271-5333|doi=10.1148/rg.266055730|doi-access=|pmid=17102039}}</ref>

=== Mirizzi's syndrome ===
[[Mirizzi's syndrome]] occurs when the common hepatic duct is blocked by [[gallstone]]s.<ref>{{Citation|last=Katz|first=Seth S.|title=Chapter 18 - Computed tomography of the liver, biliary tract, and pancreas|date=2017-01-01|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323340625000182|work=Blumgart's Surgery of the Liver, Biliary Tract and Pancreas, 2-Volume Set (Sixth Edition)|pages=316–357.e6|editor-last=Jarnagin|editor-first=William R.|place=Philadelphia|publisher=Elsevier|language=en|isbn=978-0-323-34062-5|access-date=2021-01-26}}</ref>

==Additional images==
{{Cleanup-gallery anatomy|date=May 2015}}
<gallery>
File:Biliary system new.svg |Biliary tract
File:Abdominal cavity.jpg|Common hepatic duct
File:Slide13ffff.JPG|Common hepatic duct
File:Bilebladder.png|The portal vein and its tributaries
File:Gray1095-gall bladder.png|The gall-bladder and bile ducts laid open
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{SUNYAnatomyLabs|38|03|03|02}} - "Stomach, Spleen and Liver: Contents of the Hepatoduodenal Ligament"
* [http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=26032 Illustration] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020150714/http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=26032 |date=2012-10-20 }}

{{Digestive glands}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Digestive system]]
[[Category:Hepatology]]