portal vein

A wide, short vein formed by the superior mesenteric vein & splenic vein posterior to the neck of the pancreas. The portal vein ascends in front of the inferior vena cava, then divides at the right end of the porta hepatis into the right & left branches which branch within the liver. Distinguish from hepatic vein that drains venous blood from the liver into the inferior vena cava.

References

Stedman's Medical Dictionary 26th ed, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, 1995