[Morphological characteristics of ground glass hepatocytes in chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis].

Histochemical and electron microscopic examinations of liver punctates from 57 patients with chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver were carried out. "Ground Glass" hepatocytes were found to occur with similar frequency both in patients with HB-antigen in the blood serum and in patients with alcoholic involvement of the liver and no antigen in the blood serum. The presence of HB-antigen in the cytoplasm of such hepatocytes can be detected by staining of the sections with orsein, aldehydethionine and aldehydefucsin. The latter stain is more specific. Electron microscopically, the "Ground Glass" hepatocytes are characterized by marked hyperplasia of agranular endoplasmic reticulum in the lumen of which peculiar filaments are found in the presence of HB-antigen.