[A further study of capillary-like bile ductule proliferation in chronic active hepatitis]

64 cases of chronic active hepatitis (CAH) and 84 cases of other chronic liver diseases were studied with keratin antibody immunohistochemistry. Proliferation of capillary-like bile ductules (CLBD) was more remarkable in the former cases than that in the latter cases with positive keratin reaction in the cytoplasm. Therefore, proliferation of CLBD was considered to be a characteristic lesion of CAH, which might be used as one of the criteria for differential diagnosis of CAH. This paper also reports the ultrastructural appearance of CLBD in detail and the result of HBV DNA in situ hybridization for CLBD, suggesting that HBV might infect CLBD.