Unusual amyloid bodies in human liver. Ultrastructural and freeze-etching studies.

An unusual presentation of amyloidosis in the liver is described in two patients with chronic pulmonary disease. Amyloid bodies, ranging from 3 to 20 microns in diameter and staining positive for Congo red, were found to be deposited between or within hepatocytes and, therefore, to be in a more direct spatial relationship to epithelial than to Kupffer or sinusoidal lining cells. The freeze-etching technique revealed that the average diameter of the amyloid fibrils was 15 nm and not 7 to 10 nm. This may be due to the fact that this technique avoids shrinkage artefacts which follow fixation and dehydration.