Liver Is The Largest Gland Of The Body. It Normally

Liver

 The

liver is the largest gland of the body. It normally weighs about 1.5kg. The sharp inferior border of the liver does not normally extend below the right costal margin. If it does, it is enlarged. In order to free the liver for study, you must cut the falciform ligament, superior and inferior parts of the coronary ligament, the right and left triangular ligaments, the lesser omentum and the structures in its free margin (common bile duct, proper hepatic artery and portal vein) and the hepatic veins at the point where they empty into the inferior vena cava

Size and Shape  During

development, liver size increases with increasing age, averaging 5 cm span at 5 years and attaining adult size by age 15. The size depends on several factors: age, sex, body size and shape, as well as the particular examination technique utilized (e.g., palpation versus percussion versus radiographic). By percussion, the mean liver size is 7 cm for women and 10.5 cm for men .A liver span 2 to 3 cm larger or smaller than these values is considered abnormal. The liver weighs 1200 to 1400 g in the adult woman and 1400 to 1500 g in the adult man.

Frontal views of the liver for different body types.

Lateral views of the liver for different body types

Parts of liver

Right lobe  The

right lobe is much larger than the left; the proportion between them being as six to one.  It occupies the right hypochondrium, and is separated from the left lobe on its upper surface by the falciform ligament; on its under and posterior surfaces by the left sagittal fossa; and in front by the umbilical notch.  It is of a somewhat quadrilateral form, its under and posterior surfaces being marked by three fossæ: the porta and the fossæ for the gall-bladder  and inferior vena cava, which separate its left part into two smaller lobes; the quadrate and caudate lobes.

Left lobe  The

left lobe is smaller and more flattened than the right. It is situated in the epigastric and left hypochondriac regions. Its upper surface is slightly convex and is moulded on to the diaphragm; its under surface presents the gastric impression and omental tuberosity.

Falciform ligament  The

falciform ligament is a ligament which attaches the liver to the anterior body wall. It is a broad and thin anteroposterior peritoneal fold, falciform (Latin "sickle-shaped") in shape, its base being directed downward and backward, its apex upward and backward.  It is attached by its left margin to the under surface of the diaphragm, and the posterior surface of the sheath of the right Rectus as low down as the umbilicus; by its right margin it extends from the notch on the anterior margin of the liver, as far back as the posterior surface.

Coronary Ligament  The

coronary ligament of the liver refers to parts of the peritoneal reflections that hold the liver to the inferior surface of the diaphragm.  The anterior layer of the coronary ligament is formed by the reflection of the peritoneum from the upper margin of the bare area of the liver to the under surface of the diaphragm.  The posterior layer of the coronary ligament is reflected from the lower margin of the bare area and is continuous with the right layer of the lesser omentum

Location of the liver  Located

behind the lower ribs on the right side of the abdomen.

Functions of liver  

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to produce substances that break down fats, convert glucose to glycogen, produce urea (the main substance of urine), make certain amino acids (the building blocks of proteins ), filter harmful substances from the blood (such as alcohol), storage of vitamins and minerals ( vitamins A, D, K and B12) maintain a proper level or glucose in the blood. The liver is also responsible for producing cholesterol. It produces about 80% of the cholesterol in your body.