Sinusoids in human cirrhotic nodules: better identification with the perfusion fixation technique.

Liver biopsies of two alcoholic patients with nodular cirrhosis were fixed by perfusion. Sinusoids, sinusoidal cells and the Disse space were well identified in the nodules. Compared to a 'normal' liver biopsy, the following abnormalities were found: a larger Disse space containing fibrillar material and numerous collagen bundles, the extension of the lateral recesses between hepatocytes, the presence of a basement membrane-like material beneath thick and irregular endothelial cells, the transformation of perisinusoidal cells into transitional cells and myofibroblasts-like cells. In addition perisinusoidal processes were clearly identified; they were thick, often containing numerous filaments, and displayed in two or more layers underlined by a discontinuous basement membrane-like material.