The hepatic veins divide the liver into how many sections?

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The hepatic veins act as the major boundaries that partition the liver into four sections. The three main hepatic veins—right, middle, and left—drain into the inferior vena cava and create distinct planes that separate the liver into the right lobe, the left lobe, and the two smaller lobes on the visceral surface: the caudate and quadrate lobes. The middle hepatic vein specifically helps mark the division between the right and left functional lobes (the Cantlie line), while the caudate and quadrate lobes sit between these boundaries and are separated by these venous planes. So, the venous arrangement divides the liver into four sections.