Common hepatic artery

At a glance

English

Common hepatic artery

Latin (TA2)

Arteria hepatica communis

System

Artery

Region

Trunk

Side

Single, on the midline

About the common hepatic artery

The common hepatic artery is one of the three branches of the coeliac trunk, alongside the left gastric and splenic arteries. Although short, it carries the arterial blood for the liver, gallbladder, part of the stomach, the first part of the duodenum and the head of the pancreas.

From the coeliac trunk, just above the pancreas at about the level of the first lumbar vertebra, it runs to the right along the upper border of the head of the pancreas, behind the peritoneum of the lesser sac. It then turns forwards into the lesser omentum near the first part of the duodenum. Along this course a chain of lymph nodes, the common hepatic nodes, lies close beside it.

Near the duodenum it divides into two. The gastroduodenal artery turns down behind the first part of the duodenum to supply it, the pylorus and the head of the pancreas through its superior pancreaticoduodenal and right gastro-omental branches. The proper hepatic artery continues upwards in the free edge of the lesser omentum, alongside the bile duct and portal vein, and splits into right and left hepatic arteries; the right gastric artery to the lesser curvature usually comes from it, and the cystic artery to the gallbladder normally arises from the right hepatic artery.

Variations are common. Part or all of the hepatic supply may come instead from the superior mesenteric or left gastric artery, and surgeons check for these replaced or accessory vessels before liver, pancreatic and bile duct operations or liver transplantation. The gastroduodenal artery is a frequent source of bleeding from ulcers in the back of the duodenum, and the common hepatic artery is the usual route for treating liver tumours through a catheter.

Course and supply

Arises from

Arises from the coeliac trunk, the first unpaired branch of the abdominal aorta, at about the level of the first lumbar vertebra.

Ends in

Ends near the first part of the duodenum by dividing into the proper hepatic artery and the gastroduodenal artery.

Supplies

Supplies, through its branches, the liver and gallbladder, the pylorus and lesser curvature of the stomach, the first part of the duodenum and the head of the pancreas.