SCANNING ELECTRON-MICROSCOPIC STUDY ON THE 3-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE COLLAGEN FIBRILLAR FRAMEWORK IN THE CHRONIC ACTIVE HEPATITIS AND LIVER-CIRRHOSIS

The three-dimensional collagen framework of human liver parenchyma in surgical specimens from patients with chronic active hepatitis (CAH), viral or alcoholic cirrhoses (LC) was observed by scanning electron microscopy after cell-maceration by the method of Ohtani (1988). In control livers, the tubular sheaths of collagen fibers housing the sinusoid were shown to form a labyrinthine network, which we called the perisinusoidal collagen sheaths (PSCSs), and a loose band-like collagen sheath was seen embracing each hepatocyte, which we called the perihepatocellular collagen sheath (PHCS). In CAH, thin septa partially surrounded the lobules, but the PHCS and PSCS appeared almost unchanged. In viral LC, thick collagen septa surrounded pseudolobules of various sizes. In these conditions the collagen density was slight in PSCSs, while in PHCSs, it was prominent and associated with an enlargement of sheaths themselves. In alcoholic LC of mixed type, the basic structure of the collagen framework closely imitated that of viral LC.