[Acute and chronic tuberculosis of the liver and hematopoietic system (author's transl)]

The authors report three cases of tuberculosis affecting the liver and hematopoietic system. The difficulty in diagnosing the chronic progressive forms of the disease and the severity of the acute forms is stressed. Liver biopsy is considered to be the most effective examination for confirming the nature of the disease. Acute and chronic forms can also be distinguished histologically, as the former produce nectotic lesions rich in tubercle bacillus but with only slight surrounding cellular reaction, while the latter lesions are productive and are rich in epithelioid histocytic cells.