Copper deposits in fine needle aspiration biopsies in primary biliary cirrhosis

The occurrence of copper deposits in liver cells obtained by fine needle aspiration biopsy from the livers of 21 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) was studied. Eight (38%) of these 21 patients showed perinuclear rubeanic-acid-positive deposits in fine needle specimens which were alcohol fixed and prepared using a filter technique. The density and frequency of the deposits increased with increasing liver copper concentration. The study suggested that hepatic copper deposits in advanced chronic cholestatic liver diseases such as PBC can easily be demonstrated by the simple and safe fine needle aspiration liver biopsy technique.