Histopathologic study of the liver in the early cholestatic phase of alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency.

Liver biopsies obtained during the first six months of life were studied in 15 children who had prolonged neonatal cholestasis and alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency (Pi ZZ). Intracellular PAS-positive globules were always observed, even during the first months of life. At this early stage of the disease, three morphologic patterns of hepatic alteration were distinguished. Group 1: six cases with cholestasis, hepatocellular damage, and slight portal fibrosis; Group 2: five cases with important portal fibrosis and bile duct proliferation; and Group 3: four cases in which ductular hypoplasia was the main feature. A correlation between histologic patterns and clinical course may be established: improvement of liver injury in Group 1, early cirrhosis in Group 2, and prolonged cholestasis in Group 3. The natural evolution of the disease appears to be different in each of the three groups.