Superior Orientation of the Male Liver Fissure for Ligamentum Teres

Description

Seen from a superior orientation, the fissure for the ligamentum teres (fissura ligamenti teretis hepatis) tracks as a sinuous groove within the left sagittal fissure on the diaphragmatic surface of the male liver. It lies anterior to the porta hepatis and the transverse fissure and runs inferiorly toward the inferior border where the ligamentum teres (round ligament) reaches the umbilicus after passing in the free margin of the falciform ligament. Medially the groove relates to the quadrate lobe, while laterally it borders the left hepatic lobe parenchyma and approaches the fissure for the ligamentum venosum posteriorly. This is a teaching view with real operative consequences. Surgeons and interventionalists use the umbilical fissure as a stable surface landmark to orient the left portal pedicle and segmental anatomy, because the ligamentum teres marks the boundary between Couinaud segments III (lateral) and IV (medial) and guides left hepatectomy and segment IV resections. It also clarifies why recanalization of the paraumbilical veins in portal hypertension tracks along the ligamentum teres and can produce a prominent umbilical vein within this fissure on ultrasound or CT. A small groove with a big map value. Use this illustration in gross anatomy and hepatobiliary modules to anchor lobe terminology (left lobe, quadrate lobe, left sagittal fissure) to segmental planning, and in surgical atlases describing approaches to the left liver, falciform ligament division, or laparoscopic orientation on the superior hepatic surface. It also fits radiology teaching files that correlate surface fissures with portal venous landmarks and paraumbilical collateral pathways. Anatomical accuracy verified by SciePro's Medical Advisory Board.