Incidental findings on liver autopsy with specific emphasis on Hepatitis B

  • Jaya Ganesh Department of Pathology, Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Thandalam, Chennai – 602105.
  • Vimal Chander Department of Pathology, Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Thandalam, Chennai – 602105.
  • J Mahendran Department of Forensic Medicine, Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Thandalam, Chennai – 602105.
Keywords: Hepatitis, cirrhosis, orcein stain, steatohepatitis, liver autopsy

Abstract

Background:Silent liver disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the population due to its silent progression to end stage liver disease without significant symptoms. These have to be detected at an earlier stage to reduce the morbidity. This study is aims at correlating the gross and microscopic morphology of 100 liver specimens obtained by autopsy and to correlate with the clinical parameters.Methods:100 liver specimens obtained by the autopsy of 100 patients, who died of causes like road traffic accidents, poisoning etc. with no medical history during the period from 2007 to 2012, were taken for the study. Histological samples of liver specimens were stained with the routine heamatoxylin and eosin staining, along with special stains like PAS, Reticulin, Perl’s Prussian blue and Orcein staining.Result:The most common pathology was steatosis (25%) following normal histology (49%), which was followed by chronic venous congestion (12%), chronic hepatitis (6%), cirrhosis (4%), liver cell dysplasia (2%) and metastases (2%). These findings have been correlated with age, sex and special staining. Orcein staining identified ground-glass hepatocytes with detection of Hepatitis B surface antigen in a background of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis, indication the most probable etiology of Hepatitis B.Conclusion:This study reiterates the unexpected higher prevalence of NASH among the younger generation and the importance of clinical autopsy in understanding the magnitude of clinically silent liver lesions, mainly Hepatitis B. DOI: 10.21276/APALM.1419

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Published
2017-10-25
Issue
Vol 4 No 5 (2017)
Section
Original Article

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