Hepatic Portal System Diagram – Veins and Organs to Label

All 13 parts on the diagram

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The veins 8

Hepatic portal vein Carries blood from the gut and spleen into the liver.
Superior mesenteric vein Drains the small intestine. It joins the splenic vein.
Splenic vein Leaves the spleen and runs along the pancreas.
Inferior mesenteric vein Drains the left colon. It usually joins the splenic vein.
Left gastric vein Drains the stomach along its lesser curvature, into the portal vein.
Right gastric vein A small vein from the pyloric end of the stomach.
Hepatic veins Carry blood out of the liver to the inferior vena cava.
Inferior vena cava The large vein that returns this blood to the heart.

The organs they drain 5

Liver Portal blood passes through its sinusoids before reaching the heart.
Stomach Its veins, the gastric veins, drain into the portal vein.
Spleen Its blood leaves by the splenic vein.
Small intestine Absorbed food leaves it by the superior mesenteric vein.
Large intestine Both mesenteric veins drain it, one from each side.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-10-01 and kept only where two of these use it. (1) Wikipedia, Hepatic portal system, Portal vein, Splenic vein, Superior mesenteric vein and Inferior mesenteric vein, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatic_portal_system . (2) Gray's Anatomy (1918), The Portal System of Veins, https://www.bartleby.com/107/174.html (it calls the splenic vein the lienal vein, the left gastric the coronary vein and the right gastric the pyloric vein). (3) TeachMeAnatomy, Venous Drainage of the Abdomen, https://teachmeanatomy.info/abdomen/vasculature/venous-drainage/ . (4) Kenhub, Hepatic portal vein, https://www.kenhub.com/en/library/anatomy/hepatic-portal-vein . Licence: own work

The drawing: Own drawing from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

The hepatic portal system is the set of veins that carries blood from the stomach, intestines and spleen to the liver before it returns to the heart. Label the veins of the hepatic portal system first, then the organs.

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The path of the blood

Blood from the small intestine climbs the superior mesenteric vein. Behind the pancreas it meets the splenic vein, which has already taken in the inferior mesenteric vein from the left colon. The two form the hepatic portal vein, and the gastric veins join it on the way up. Inside the liver the blood filters through tiny channels called sinusoids, then leaves by the hepatic veins for the inferior vena cava.

Why it is called portal

A portal system runs between two beds of small vessels with no heart in between. Here the first bed is in the gut and spleen, and the second is in the liver.

Two names share a word: the hepatic portal vein goes into the liver, the hepatic veins come out of it.
Old books call the splenic vein the lienal vein and the left gastric vein the coronary vein. The quiz accepts both.

Questions and answers

What are the components of the hepatic portal system?

The hepatic portal vein and the veins that feed it: the superior mesenteric, the splenic, the inferior mesenteric and the gastric veins. To label the components of the hepatic portal system, add the organs they drain and the hepatic veins that leave the liver.

Which two veins form the hepatic portal vein?

The superior mesenteric vein and the splenic vein. They meet behind the pancreas's neck. The inferior mesenteric vein usually joins the splenic vein just before that point.

Is this the art labeling activity the hepatic portal system 1 of 2?

No. That is a publisher's homework title. This drawing is our own and holds the same veins and organs on one page, so you can practice the names here. We have no answer key for any activity.

Where does blood go after the liver?

It leaves by the hepatic veins, which open into the inferior vena cava just below the diaphragm. The vena cava carries it to the right side of the heart.