Periodic acid Schiff-positive non-glycogenic globules in hepatocytes. Differential diagnostic aspects in screening for alpha-1-antitrypsin globules in an autopsy material.

Thirty-eight subjects with diastase-resistant PAS-positive cytoplasmic globules in hepatocytes were found among 238 autopsies. In 15 of the 38 subjects the globules were antigenically alpha-1-antitrypsin, in 23 subjects they were not. The latter globules were found in centrilobular regions, the alpha-1-antitrypsin globules mainly in periportal regions. The non-alpha-1-antitrypsin globules showed less differences in size (6-10 mu) and a smaller number per hepatocyte (1-7) than the alpha-1-antitrypsin globules (1-40 mu and 1-30 per cell). The non-alpha-1-antitrypsin globules were only demonstrated in livers with centrilobular sinusoidal dilatation having, in all cases but one, also centrilobular, confluent necrosis. This type of globules can be assumed to be of differential diagnostic importance mainly in an autopsy material. The nature of these globules is discussed.