Cholangiographic segmental anatomy of the liver

The importance of understanding the Couinaud nomenclature describing hepatic segmental anatomy has been increasingly recognized by practicing radiologists. The normal cholangiographic appearances of the biliary ductal branches, as well as those of their common anatomic variants, are less well known. As percutaneous biliary procedures increase in frequency and complexity, a thorough understanding of this anatomy is of utmost importance. In this article, we present cholangiograms, computed tomographic (CT) scans, and anatomic drawings to illustrate cholangiographic segmental anatomy and its correlation with segmental anatomy as depicted by CT. The significance of the anatomy to percutaneous interventional procedures is discussed.