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Hepatovenous segment III: anatomy, location and function

Couinaud segment III is the inferior part of the left lateral section of the liver. Each Couinaud segment is a functionally independent unit of liver with its own portal triad (portal vein branch, hepatic artery branch, bile duct) and hepatic venous drainage, so it can be resected separately.

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Highlighted in the model: Hepatovenous segment III. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

Hepatovenous segment III at a glance

What it is
Couinaud segment III is the inferior part of the left lateral section of the liver.
Location
It lies in the left lobe, anterior and inferior, to the left of the falciform ligament and below the plane of the left portal vein.
Function
Each Couinaud segment is a functionally independent unit of liver with its own portal triad (portal vein branch, hepatic artery branch, bile duct) and hepatic venous drainage, so it can be resected separately.
Body system
Digestive · single, midline structure
FMA ID
FMA15741 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • Segments II and III together form the left lateral section.
  • The umbilical fissure (falciform ligament) and left hepatic vein mark its border with segment IV.

Clinical relevance

Segmental anatomy guides surgical planning for liver resections and localisation of lesions on imaging.

Structures next to the hepatovenous segment iii

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Hepatovenous segment III (FMA15741). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §23.1 Overview of the Digestive System. Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.