Liver Histopathology in Patients with Hyperthyroidism

Authors: Ayşen AKALIN, Belgin EFE, Özgül PAŞAOĞLU, Kemal BALIBAŞA, Esat ERENOĞLU

Abstract: Histopathological alterations and enzyme abnormalities of the liver in patients with hyperthyroidism, are described In order to determine these changes, sixteen patients with hyperthyroidism were studied and liver needle biopsies were performed. In twelve patients, serum alkaline phosphatase levels were found to be elevated, all but one being of liver origin. Examination of the liver biopsies revealed cholestasis of varying degrees in all patients. In addition, other changes including focal inflammatory cell infiltrates, sinusoidal dilatation, nuclear polymorphism, Kupffer cell hyperplasia, presence of hemosiderin pigment, vacuolated nuclei and fibrosis of different localizations without liver function abnormalities, were found. It is concluded that there can be significant histopathological changes in the liver especially cholestasis, in the absence of functional abnormalities.

Keywords: Hyperthyroidism, liver histopathology