Correlations between sinusoidal pressure and liver morphology in cirrhosis

Twenty-three patients with cirrhosis (alcoholic, post-hepatitic and cryptogenetic), who underwent hepatic venous catheterization and hepatic biopsy, were included in a histopathologic study to identify morphologic features correlated with the values of corrected sinusoidal pressure. The alterations in acinar architecture were investigated by histomorphometry and could be described as: a) multiacinar fibrosis with partial persistence of normal afferent and efferent vascular structures; b) complex acinar fibrosis with partial persistence of afferent structures alone; and c) simple acinar and subacinar fibrosis with almost complete disappearance of normal vascular structures. A significant negative correlation (p < 0.05) was found between corrected sinusoidal pressure values and the percentage of portal spaces not involved in the process of bridging fibrosis, indicated as "residual portal spaces". Residual portal space evaluation can therefore be suggested as an easily quantifiable morphologic feature indicative of portal pressure.