One of the three branches of the celiac trunk in the upper abdomen that runs to the right and meets the portal vein and the common bile duct to pass together into the liver. The first branch of the common hepatic artery is the gastroduodenal artery. The second is the right gastric artery. Before entering the liver, the common hepatic artery branches into the right and left hepatic arteries. (There can be significant variation in the organization of these branches.) The hepatic artery supplies blood to the stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and duodenum.