Investigation of the functional three-dimensional anatomy of the human cystic duct: A single helix?

Bird, N.C., Ooi, R.C., Luo, X.Y. , Chin, S.B. and Johnson, A.G. (2006) Investigation of the functional three-dimensional anatomy of the human cystic duct: A single helix? Clinical Anatomy, 19(6), pp. 528-534. (doi: 10.1002/ca.20219)

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Abstract

Clinical research into the formation of gallstones has indicated that the anatomy of the cystic duct is one of a number of factors contributing to the formation of gallstones. The cystic duct allows low-viscosity hepatic bile to enter the gallbladder under low pressure and the expulsion of a more viscous gallbladder bile, but little is known about this transport mechanism and the effect of anatomical variations in structure. This article describes the variation in geometry of the cystic duct, obtained from acrylic resin casts of the neck and first part of the cystic duct in gallbladders removed for gallstone disease and obtained from patients undergoing partial hepatectomy for metastatic disease. The data obtained allowed us to formulate a number of standard terms for describing cystic duct morphology and demonstrate that the term spiral valve is only partially correct when describing the duct anatomy. In over half of the casts, spiraling was not the dominant feature of the cystic duct. Additionally, the term valve implies active resistance to flow in one direction, whereas the internal baffles of the cystic duct would serve to regulate bile flow in both directions. These data are useful for realistic 3D modeling of fluid-structure interactions of the flow of bile in the human cystic duct. Clin. Anat. 19:528-534,

Item Type:Articles
Keywords:gallbladder, valves of Heister, computational fluid dynamics
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Luo, Professor Xiaoyu
Authors: Bird, N.C., Ooi, R.C., Luo, X.Y., Chin, S.B., and Johnson, A.G.
Subjects:Q Science > QA Mathematics
Q Science > QC Physics
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Mathematics and Statistics > Mathematics
Journal Name:Clinical Anatomy
Journal Abbr.:Clin. Anat.
ISSN:0891-2238
ISSN (Online):0897-3806
Published Online:14 November 2005

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