A Morphological Study of Caudate Lobe in Human Cadaveric Liver

The liver is the largest abdominal visceral organ, occupying a substantial portion of the upper abdominal cavity. The liver has four lobes, Caudate lobe is a separate and distinct liver lobe. It is located on liver at the posterior surface. The caudate lobe has two portions joined by a narrow parenchymal bridge that is called the caudate isthmus. Caudate lobe also has its separate blood supply and biliary drainage. The complexity of liver function and its importance in body homeostasis has encouraged this study of morphology and variations of caudate lobe to better the diagnosis and analysis of clinicopathological conditions. For present study 100 cadaveric livers were obtained. Caudate lobe was studied on various parameters such as shape, size and dimensions. Various measurements were taken and data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and relational statistics. ‘Z’ test was computed to find out the association between the parameters of the present study and the studies of similar background. It was found that majority of the caudate lobes in all livers are rectangular 67 (67%) in shape followed by pyriform 21 (21%) and irregular 12 (12%) shaped. The average transverse diameter of caudate was measured 28.69 ± 7.73.The average longitudinal diameter of caudate lobe was measured 54.67 ± 10.73. A sound knowledge of the normal and variant liver anatomy is a prerequisite to having a favorable surgical outcome and commonly occurring variations assumes even more significance in the era of diagnostic imaging and minimally invasive surgical approaches.