[Changes in the hepatic vessels in different types of cirrhosis]

Changes in the vessels at hepatic cirrhosis have been studied in 96 persons and in 20 guinea pigs after carbon tetrachloride had been administered 6 and 18 times. At the initial stage of cirrhosis in the guinea pigs some narrowing of the sinusoid vessels is observed as a result of their constriction by hepatic cells with adipose degeneration. At the terminal stage of cirrhosis, especially the postnecrotic one in people, the distribution of the hepatic vessels is rather uneven. The angioarchitectonics is altered. At the portal and biliary cirrhosis, the vessels go round the cirrhotic nodes forming peculiar rings and "baskets". At the postnecrotic cirrhosis, the vascular rings are less pronounced and the angioarchitectonic picture resembles the one at the hepatic fibrosis. The vascular diameter at cirrhosis is larger than the normal one. The thickness of the interlobular artery wall is often uneven and in general is less than the normal; it can result from dilatation of the lumen, and the latter--from the vascular hypertonus. No outgrowth of the intima is observed.