15
1. Locate the common hepatic artery as it branches from the abdominal aorta. This artery and its
branches supply six organs. What are they?
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2. Select the spleen and use the Hide button in the content box to hide it. Rotate the view to observe
the arteries that enter the inferior side of the liver. The common hepatic artery branch that supplies
the liver is the _______________________________. This artery terminates in left and right branches that
enter the liver, supplying it with freshly oxygenated blood.
3. Rotate the view to observe the veins that enter the liver from below. Locate the large vein that enters
the liver next to the proper hepatic artery branches. This vein is the _______________________________.
a. The hepatic portal vein delivers oxygen-depleted blood, which carries food absorbed by the
small intestine that will be processed by the liver before entering the heart. Which organs are
drained by this vein?
4. Portal veins are vessels that carry blood from one set of capillary beds—in this case, from the
digestive system—and deliver it to another set of capillary beds—in this case, to the liver—without
passing through the heart first. As the hepatic portal vein enters the liver, it branches into small,
permeable, capillary-like vessels called ________________________________. Products of digestion that are
absorbed by the intestines enter the liver through these permeable vessels. Other products, such as
materials reabsorbed from the colon and the products of red blood cell recycling from the spleen, also
enter the liver for processing.
5. Select the (VII) right posterolateral segment of the liver and use the Hide button in the content box
to hide it and observe the paired veins that drain the liver. These are the _______________________________,
which empty into the _______________________________.
TIME TO PRACTICE!
GO TO THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM QUIZZES AND TAKE QUIZ 12 VENOUS SINUSES, QUIZ 4 THORAX,
QUIZ 5 ABDOMEN I, QUIZ 6 ABDOMEN II, QUIZ 14 THORAX, AND QUIZ 15 ABDOMEN.