Hepatobiliary and hepatic vascular anatomy evaluated with computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging: the current status

The purpose of this article was to review the literature on hepatobiliary anatomy evaluation using different imaging modalities and opt for the best suitable imaging technique to show a specified part of the hepatobiliary system. For this article, the best suitable literature was searched using PubMed database and reviewed. This article describes major aspects of liver segmentation and the most popular classification of the hepatic segments and the vascular and biliary variants in the liver. And the evaluation of the hepatobiliary system using imaging techniques such as ① computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for liver, ② computed tomography angiography (CTA) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) for the hepatic vasculature including the hepatic arteries, hepatic veins and the portal vein, and ③ magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) for bile duct. These imaging techniques have provided us with better procedures to depict the liver and biliary architecture, which will help us differentiate normal anatomy from variants and abnormal findings, even benefit in differential diagnosis and devising surgical planning/mapping for preoperative evaluation and post-operative care in conditions of the liver sucha as hepatocellular carcinoma and parasitic cysts.