Adult polycystic liver disease and biliary microhamartomas (von Meyenburg's complexes)

The relationship between adult polycystic liver disease (PLD) and biliary microhamartomas (von Meyenburg's complexes) was studied in a series of ten autopsy cases in which the size of the cysts varied from microscopic to 10 cm. Biliary microhamartomas, found in every case, were the most abundant (p less than 0.001) in livers with cyst size of 1 cm or less and had almost disappeared in cases with the largest cysts. The number of microhamartomas had no significant correlation with age or liver weight. The results indicate that biliary microhamartoma (von Meyenburg's complex) is coupled with adult-type polycystic liver disease, and, probably, is the histopathological lesion that transforms into cysts. The number of microhamartomas is the highest in the early phase of the disease.