The White Pekin Duck's (Anas platyrhynchos) Liver: New perspectives on its anatomical gross, casting, and histological features

Abstract

The study aimed to analyze the anatomical gross and casting, correlation analysis of the liver dimensions, and histological features of the white Pekin duck’s liver. The casting technique is the first to accurately describe the hepatic veins, portal hepatic veins, and intrahepatic arteries. The liver had two triangular lobes, with the right being larger and featuring a dorsal process on the left lobe, cranio-dorsal and caudo-dorsal processes on the right lobe, and the porta hepatis on the visceral surface. Blood is collected from the body’s caudal part through the caudal vena cava and passes through the cranio-dorsal part of the right lobe. The venous drainage of the hepatic parenchyma is through the right, left, and middle hepatic veins. The hepatic portal venous system was composed of two hepatic portal veins (left and right); the larger right one entered through the right portal fissure, passing through the intrahepatic parenchyma, while the left one entered through the left portal fissure. Hepatic arteries enter through two right and three small left hepatic arteries. The dorsal right hepatic artery originated from the right branch of the celiac artery, while the ventral one originated from the pancreaticoduodenal artery. The left hepatic arteries originate from the ventral gastric artery. Liver parenchyma was enclosed by a thin CT capsule with poorly defined lobules, consisting of hepatocytes in uneven plates. Hepatocyte plates contained a single layer of thick cells, with large Kupffer cells in the irregular parenchyma. All hepatic apparatus had a positive PAS reaction and moderately reacted to Masson’s trichrome stains, especially at the portal region and hepatic capsule, and the reticular fibers appeared mainly around the portal triad by Gomori stain.