[Histopathology of the liver in patients with severe burns. Preliminary biopsy study]

Liver histobiopsy was carried out in 21 patients with burns of from 25 to 75 percent, between the 2nd and 125th day following trauma. The most frequent type of lesion encountered was albuminoid degeneration and hydropic ballooning of the cytoplasm to the point that the parenchyma assumed a "vegetable" appearance. No steatosis intervenes until the 6th-8th day after the burn and where it was not present previously, is a sign that the patient's condition is worsening. Total, or nearly total, disappearance of glycogen from the sections is an indication that the patient is worsening; in effect in patients who died, biopsy carried out shortly beforehand revealed the extreme paucity of PAS-positive material in the hepatocytes.