A Morphological Study on Abnormalities of Interlobular Bile Ducts in Chronic Hepatitis

• Published in: Kanzo Vol. 16; no. 6; pp. 363 - 369
• Main Authors: YAMADA, Shoji, ICHIDA, Fumihiro, SASAKI, Hiroshi, INOUE, Kyoichi, INAGAKI, Takehiko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: The Japan Society of Hepatology 1975
• ISSN: 0451-4203; 1881-3593
• DOI: 10.2957/kanzo.16.363

We described here histological changes of the interlobular bile ducts found in chronic hepatitis. Fourteen liver biopsy specimens (12.2%) from 14 cases exhibited abnormal interlobular bile duct epithelium in 115 biopsy specimens from 99 patients with chronic hepatitis. Abnormal bile ducts had swollen, vacuolized or flat epithelial cells with karyopyknosis or karyorrhexis. The epithelium was often infiltrated by inflammatory cells. Eosinophilic degeneration of epithelial cells was also found. The portal tracts containing abnormal bile ducts were infiltrated with dense inflammatory cells, occasionally forming follicles. In this study no granuloma was found and papillary appearance was not observed in bile duct epithelium. Plasma cells were found slightly in the portal tracts in only one case. It should be mentioned that these findings differed from bile duct lesions found in early stage of primary biliary cirrhosis.