The Hepatic circulation is unique among vascular beds. The most obvious unique features include the dual vascular supply; the mechanism of intrinsic regulation of the hepatic artery (the hepatic arterial buffer response); the fact that portal blood flow, supplying two thirds of liver blood flow, is not controlled directly by the liver; the fact that 20% of the cardiac output rushes through the most vascularized organ in the body, driven by a pressure gradient of only a few millimeters of mercury; the extremely distensible capacitance and venous resistance sites; the unidirectional acinar...