Hepatic hyaline globules associated with passive congestion.

We describe the presence of hyaline globules in liver associated with hepatic congestion. These globules were present in hepatocytes in 15% of 100 adult autopsies. They are periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-positive and diastase-resistant by light microscopy, and in one case examined by electron microscopy, contained microfibrillar material with occasional rod-shaped inclusions. The majority of them stained positively for fibrinogen and alpha 1-antitrypsin by immunohistochemical methods. Of possible etiologies, the globules appear most probably as phagosomes containing imbibed serum proteins under conditions of increased sinusoidal pressure with passive congestion. They are more common than generally realized, when compared with other reported forms of nonglycogenic hyaline globules in liver. They must be distinguished from alpha 1-antitrypsin-disease globules.