Liver: largest gland of the body, exocrine and endocrine, occupying right hypochondrium, epigastrium and part of left hypochondrium.
Weighs about 1500 g (about 2.5% of adult body weight); secretes bile, stores glycogen, synthesises serum proteins and lipids, and detoxifies blood.
Location, Shape and Surfaces
Wedge shaped, base right, apex left; upper border at the xiphisternal joint, inferior border at the transpyloric plane (L1).
Two surfaces: diaphragmatic (convex) and visceral (flat), meeting at the sharp inferior border.
Weight: males 1.4 to 1.8 kg, females 1.2 to 1.4 kg; at birth about 150 g.
Diaphragmatic surface extends up to the right 5th rib anteriorly and left 5th intercostal space; subdivided into superior, anterior, right lateral and posterior parts, with no true demarcation.
Inferior border bears two notches:
Notch for ligamentum teres: just right of the median plane
Cystic notch: about 5 cm to the right, near the gallbladder fundus
Colour red-brown; liver occupies two-fifths of the abdomen in newborns owing to its fetal haemopoietic function.