Vascular disorders of the liver

Vascular disorders of the liver can be produced by a variety of lesions affecting various parts of the hepatic vasculature : the capillaries - the so-called sinusoids ; the hepatic arterial tree from the large arteries to the arterioles ; the portal venous system from the portal veins to the portal venules ; and the hepatic venous sys- tem from the central venules to the major hepatic veins. Obviously, for clinical consequences to arise, injury to the microcirculation must be diffuse, whereas limited injury to the large blood vessels can have serious conse- quences. In this talk, I shall consider only disorders of the portal veins and disorders of the hepatic veins and I will focus mainly on thrombosis.