View source for Medicine:Falciform ligament

{{Short description|Ligament attaching the liver to the front body wall}}
{{anatomy-terms}}
{{Infobox ligament
| Name        = Falciform ligament
| Latin       = ligamentum falciforme hepatis
| Image       = File:Liver and nearby organs.jpg
| Caption     = The falciform ligament is seen here, dividing the [[Biology:Liver|liver]] from the front into a left and a right lobe.
| Image2       = Gray1085.png
| Caption2     = The liver viewed from above. Falciform ligament can be seen separating the left medial from the right lateral lobes of liver.
| From        =
| To          =
}}

In human anatomy, the '''falciform ligament''' ({{ety|la||[[Engineering:Falx|sickle]]-shaped}}) is a [[Biology:Ligament|ligament]] that attaches the [[Biology:Liver|liver]] to the front body wall and divides the liver into the left lobe and right lobe.<ref>{{Citation |last=Garbar |first=Veronica |title=Anatomy, Abdomen and Pelvis, Falciform Ligament |date=2022 |url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539858/ |work=StatPearls |place=Treasure Island (FL) |publisher=StatPearls Publishing |pmid=30969680 |access-date=2022-12-06 |last2=Newton |first2=Bruce W.}}</ref> The falciform ligament is a broad and thin fold of peritoneum, its base being directed downward and backward and its apex upward and forward. It droops down from the [[Biology:Hilum (anatomy)|hilum]] of the liver.

==Structure==
The falciform ligament stretches obliquely from the front to the back of the abdomen, with one surface in contact with the peritoneum behind the right rectus abdominis muscle and the diaphragm, and the other in contact with the left lobe of the liver.

The ligament stretches from the underside of the diaphragm to the posterior surface of the sheath of the right rectus abdominis muscle, 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.

It is composed of two layers of peritoneum closely united together.

Its base or free edge contains, between its layers, the [[Medicine:Round ligament of liver|round ligament]] and the paraumbilical veins.

===Development===
It is a remnant of the embryonic ventral mesentery. The umbilical vein of the fetus gives rise to the round ligament of liver in the adult, which is found in the free border of the falciform ligament.

==Clinical significance==
The falciform ligament can become canalized if an individual is suffering from [[Medicine:Portal hypertension|portal hypertension]]. Due to the increase in venous congestion, blood is pushed down from the liver towards the anterior abdominal wall and if blood pools here, will result in dilatation of veins around the umbilicus.  If these veins radiate out from the umbilicus, they can give the appearance of a head (the umbilicus) with hair of snakes (the veins) – this is referred to as [[Medicine:Caput medusae|caput medusae]].<ref>Misdraji J, Embryology, anatomy, histology, and developmental anomalies of the liver.  In, Sleisinger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease.  10th edition,  Feldman M, Friedman LS and Branbdt LJ, eds. pp. 1217-122.</ref>

==Additional images==
<gallery>
File:Gray984.png|Cross-section showing the primitive mesentery of a six weeks' human embryo
File:Gray1039.png|Cross-section showing folds of peritoneum in the upper abdomen
File:Slide2UC.JPG|A [[Medicine:Cadaver|cadaver]] liver seen from above, showing the falciform ligament at the top
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{SUNYAnatomyLabs|37|04|01|00}} - "Abdominal Cavity: The Falciform Ligament of the Liver"
* {{SUNYAnatomyLabs|38|12|02|05}} - "The Visceral Surface of the Liver"
* {{SUNYAnatomyImage|8|3|73}}
* {{NormanAnatomy|liver}}


[[Category:Hepatology]]

{{Sourceattribution|Falciform ligament}}