[Occurrence of anastomoses of the intrahepatic bile ducts]

Eighty-four human livers were investigated with regard to the existence of vascular communications within their biliary tracts. Even with the help of a most subtle technique we could not detect any junctions between the bile ducts, so that there is no evidence of primary anastomoses between the main lobes, between the segments, or inside the segments. In case of chronic biliary obstruction only the major ducts, e.g., up to the fourth generation, are amplified. There is an inflammatory reaction around the smaller vessels, followed by fibrosis and shrinking of the connective tissue. That is why the formation of secondary anastomoses cannot happen under pathological conditions.