Answer to Porter’s Portal

Correct answer is B. The indicated structure is the portal vein that is found within the porta hepatis. The two other structures here are the bile duct and the hepatic artery proper. By definition, portal veins begin and drain into capillary beds. The clinical example of schistosomiases causing portal hypertension is often overlooked in the developed world. While alcoholism seems to be the principal cause of liver disease and subsequent portal hypertension in the developed world, the liver flukes, schistosomiasis mansoni and japonicum  infect almost 240 million people worldwide.

Answer to this question is based on material presented in lectures 9 of the Abdomen Lecture Series.