Three-dimensional morphology of the liver in cirrhosis and related disorders

Abstract

Summary Cirrhotic livers of different types were subjected to three-dimensional graphic reconstruction of nodules, interstitial septa and blood vessels from serial histologic sections. It was found that in all cases adjacent cirrhotic nodules were connected to one another so as to form a nodular network, in spite of their apparent separation in histologic sections. The nodules were linked in the form of chains with abundant anastomoses, and the network was ‘conjugate’ with the intrahepatic vascular tree, as revealed by its close relationship to blood vessels. A parenchymal network of the same type was also found in livers with subacute or chronic hepatitis, suggesting that this type of structure was common to cirrhosis and its precursor lesions and represents the geometrical configuration of hepatic parenchyma surviving zonal hepatic necrosis. A re-examination of chronic liver disease in terms of its structural framework provided a new viewpoint from which to analyse the morphogenetic problems of these disorders.