Umbilical and paraumbilical veins in ligamentum teres. Their significance as collaterals in portal hypertension.

Twenty-two postmortem specimens of the liver (18 normal livers, three with liver metastases, and one with liver cirrhosis) with attached ligamenta teres were investigated using silicone rubber injection technique. In all cases, the paraumbilical veins were demonstrated. They were usually divided into 2 groups, one on the right and one on the left side of the ligamentum teres, and they terminated in a variable manner into small peripheral portal vein branches in the liver parenchyma. A patent segment of the umbilical vein was found in 7 of the 22 cases. Connections between the umbilical vein and paraumbilical veins were supposed to represent one of the collateral channels in portal hypertension.