Development of the Bile Duct A hepatic diverticulum appears in the ventral wall of the primitive midgut early in the 4th week of intrauterine life in the development of the human embryo [1] . This small diverticulum is the anlage for the development of the liver, extrahepatic biliary ducts, gallbladder, and ventral pancreas. In the 4th week, two buds can be recognized in the hepatic diverticulum [2, 3] . The cranial bud becomes the liver and the extrahepatic biliary tree. The caudal bud

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... into superior and inferior buds. From the superior bud, the gallbladder and cystic duct appear, and the right and left ventral pancreas develops from the inferior bud. By the 5th week, all elements of the biliary tree are recognizable [2, 4] ( fig. 1 ). Meanwhile, bile canaliculi differentiate from hepatic cells. The terminal bile ducts grow out into the mesenchymal tissue of the septum transversum, which will produce the fibrous architecture of the liver, and the development of an intrahepatic duct system is completed by the 10th week [4] [5] [6] . Marked elongation of the common duct occurs with plugging of the lumen by epithelial cells. Recanalization of the lumen of the common duct starts at the end of the 5th week and moves slowly distally [7] . The lumen of the common duct extends into the cystic duct by the 7th week, but the gallbladder remains solid until the 12th week. By the 6th week, the common duct and ventral pancreatic bud rotate 180° clockwise around the duodenum. After completion of the rotation, the entrance of the common bile duct into the left posterior surface of the duodenum can be seen. Early in the 7th week, the bile and pancreatic ducts end in closed cavities of the duodenum Abstract A hepatic diverticulum appears in the ventral wall of the primitive midgut early in the 4th week of intrauterine life in the development of the human embryo. This small diverticulum is the anlage for the development of the liver, extrahepatic biliary ducts, gallbladder, and ventral pancreas. By the 5th week, all elements of the biliary tree are recognizable. Marked elongation of the common duct occurs with plugging of the lumen by epithelial cells. Recanalization of the lumen of the common duct starts at the end of the 5th week and moves slowly distally. By the 6th week, the common duct and ventral pancreatic bud rotate 180° clockwise around the duodenum. Early in the 7th week, the bile and pancreatic ducts end in closed cavities of the duodenum. Between the early 8th and 12th week, hepatopancreatic ducts have both superior and inferior orifices. Of these two orifices, the inferior one is usually suppressed. The muscle of the sphincter of Oddi develops from a concentric ring of mesenchyme surrounding the preampullary portion of the bile and pancreatic ducts. At about the 10th week, the muscle of the sphincter of Oddi undergoes differentiation. In the 16th week, the muscularis propria extends from just outside the fenestra to the upper end of the ampulla. By the 28th week, the musculus proprius is differentiated almost to the distal end of the ampulla.