HEPATIC SURGERY AND HEPATIC SURGICAL ANATOMY - HISTORICAL PARTNERS INPROGRESS

Whether for hepatic trauma or transplantation, a surgeon's knowledge o f hepatic anatomy commonly determines a patient's outcome. The first m edically relevant anatomic studies of the liver emerged with the endea vors of Herophilus and Erasistratus between 310 and 250 BC. Yet it was not until after the development of anesthesia and antisepsis that the first formal resections were performed during the late 1800s. After v ascular occlusion principles had been developed as a means of successf ul hemorrhage control, several deliberate attempts were made to repair the fiver surgically. Such efforts culminated in the work of Wendel i n 1910 when he followed avascular planes during hepatectomy. The funct ional anatomy of surgery and surgical technique had suddenly joined in an effort to advance the practice, and eventually the efficacy of hep atic surgeons in facilitating the modern era of segmental anatomy exte nded hepatectomies and transplantation surgery.