The hepatic portal vein is a blood vessel that conducts blood from the gastrointestinal tract and spleen to the liver. This blood is rich in nutrients that have been extracted from food, and the liver processes these nutrients; it also filters toxins that may have been ingested with the food. 75% of total liver blood flow is through the hepatic portal vein, with the remainder coming from the hepatic artery proper. The blood leaves the liver to the heart in the hepatic veins.
Conditions involving the hepatic portal vein cause considerable illness and death. An important example of such a condition is elevated blood pressure in the hepatic portal vein. This condition, called portal hypertension, is a major complication of cirrhosis.
“It’s a great achievement,” said Dr ... “The heart just functions as a heart to pump the blood ... the hepatic artery bringing oxygenated blood and the portal vein that brings nutrient-rich partially deoxygenated blood from the digestive organs ... .
I was doing my best to dissect out the liver, looking for the hepatic portal vein. I felt a sense of elation when, at last, I teased through connective tissue, and there it was — the portal vein as it made its way to the liver ...Form and function.
