[Ultrastructural changes in the liver in hepatocerebral dystrophy].

The authors studied the character of subcellular changes in the liver of 15 patients with hepato-cerebral dystrophy and compared them with 5 patients with hepatocirrhosis of a non-hereditary etiology. The mitochondrias suffer most severily from cell organella. Their pathology is more characterized by changes connected with the increase of electronic density and to a lesser degree by swellings. The correlation between the occurrence of electronic dense mitochondrias and the increased hepatocytelipid infiltration is marked. The ultrastructural study has confirmed a preventive role of the lipofuscin complex with cuprum. The main reason of the development of hepacirrhosis in hepato-cerebral dystrophy is the accumulation of cuprum nonutilized by pathogenetical mechanisms--lesion of mitochondrias, tissue hypoxia, necrosis of hepatocytes. The capability of neutralization and withdrawal of cuprum can determine the severity and rapidity of the development of the disease.