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Middle hepatic vein: anatomy, location and function

One of three main hepatic veins, draining the central part of the liver. It drains the medial segment of the left lobe and the anterior segments of the right lobe.

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Highlighted in the model: Middle hepatic vein. 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.

Middle hepatic vein at a glance

What it is
One of three main hepatic veins, draining the central part of the liver.
Location
It runs in the main portal fissure between the right and left lobes and drains into the inferior vena cava near the diaphragm, often joining the left hepatic vein first.
Function
It drains the medial segment of the left lobe and the anterior segments of the right lobe.
Body system
Cardiovascular · single, midline structure
FMA ID
FMA14340 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • It lies along the plane of Cantlie's line.
  • It drains segments IV, V and VIII.

Clinical relevance

Surgeons use the hepatic veins as landmarks for dividing liver segments in resections.

Structures next to the middle hepatic vein

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

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Middle hepatic vein (FMA14340). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §20.1 Structure and Function of Blood Vessels. 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.