Right Hepatic Artery: A Cadaver Investigation and Its Clinical Significance

The right hepatic artery is an end artery and contributes sole arterial supply to right lobe of the liver. Misinterpretation of normal anatomy and anatomical variations of the right hepatic artery contribute to the major intraoperative mishaps and complications in hepatobiliary surgery. The frequency of inadvertent or iatrogenic hepatobiliary vascular injury rises with the event of an aberrant anatomy. This descriptive study was carried out to document the normal anatomy and different variations of right hepatic artery to contribute to existing knowledge of right hepatic artery to improve surgical safety. This study conducted on 60 cadavers revealed aberrant replaced right hepatic artery in 18.3% and aberrant accessory right hepatic artery in 3.4%. Considering the course, the right hepatic artery ran outside Calot's triangle in 5% of cases and caterpillar hump right hepatic artery was seen in 13.3% of cases. The right hepatic artery (normal and aberrant) crossed anteriorly to the common hepatic duct in 8.3% and posteriorly to it in 71.6%. It has posterior relations with the common bile duct in 16.7% while in 3.4% it did not cross the common hepatic duct or common bile duct. The knowledge of such anomalies is important since their awareness will decrease morbidity and help to keep away from a number of surgical complications.