Morphology of alcoholic liver disease

Clin Liver Dis. 2005 Feb;9(1):37-53. doi: 10.1016/j.cld.2004.11.001.

Abstract

The major pathologic manifestations of alcoholic liver injury have been well described, and include three major lesions: steatosis (fatty liver), steatohepatitis (formerly alcoholic hepatitis), and cirrhosis. Recent attention to the problem of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in individuals with obesity, diabetes, and other risk factors has shed light on the mechanisms of cellular injury associated with hepatic steatosis and on the potential pathways to steatohepatitis and cirrhosis. Pathologists need to be familiar with the spectrum of changes seen in steatohepatitis, including hepatocyte ballooning, Mallory bodies, mixed inflammatory cell infiltrates, and a distinctive perivenular and pericellular "chicken-wire" fibrosis. These features and other less common histopathologic lesions in the liver are reviewed and illustrated.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Biopsy, Needle
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Disease Progression
  • Fatty Liver, Alcoholic / pathology*
  • Fatty Liver, Alcoholic / physiopathology
  • Female
  • Hepatitis, Alcoholic / pathology*
  • Hepatitis, Alcoholic / physiopathology
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic / pathology*
  • Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic / physiopathology
  • Liver Function Tests
  • Male
  • Prognosis
  • Risk Assessment
  • Severity of Illness Index