Ischemia: a cause of hepatic telangiectasis in cattle.

We histologically examined (i) 73 bovine livers condemned by packing house inspectors for telangiectasis, (ii) 15 bovine livers passed by the same inspectors as normal, and (iii) 8 livers from cattle given an injection into their mesenteric veins: 6 with a suspension of agar particles containing viable Haemophilus somnus and 2 with diluent only. The injected cattle were killed and necropsied 2 to 12 days after the inoculations. Of the 73 telangiectatic livers, 57 (78%) had thrombosed and occluded or contracted and empty portal veins (venopathies), whereas 1 of the 15 normal livers contained one microscopic focus of telangiectasis and nearby venopathy. Of the 6 livers injected with suspended particles, all had venopathies and telangiectasis and the 2 control livers had neither.