Central veins
Venae centrales
Definition
Arrived at the center of the lobule, the sinusoids empty themselves into one vein, of considerable size, which runs down the center of the lobule from apex to base, and is called the central vein (intralobular vein). At the base of the lobule this vein opens directly into the sublobular vein, with which the lobule is connected. The sublobular veins unite to form larger and larger trunks, and end at last in the hepatic veins, these converge to form three large trunks which open into the inferior vena cava while that vessel is situated in its fossa on the posterior surface of the liver.
This definition incorporates text from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy (20th U.S. edition of Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, published in 1918 – from http://www.bartleby.com/107/).
