Abstract
A comparative study between histological findings of the liver biopsy under direct vision and peritoneoscopic findings of the liver surface by a magnifying laparoscope was performed in 30 intrahepatic cholestatic patients with clinical jaundice. The results were as follows : I) A peritoneoscopic sign of cholestasis was the green spot on the liver surface. The green spots were observed by a magnifying laparoscope in patients with the total serum bilirubin of over 3mg/dl. II) The color density and size of the green spots observed by a magnifying laparoscope are well correlated to the size and range of intralobular distribution of bile plugs on the histology. III) Cholestasis of a slight degree could be detected as brown-reddish green spots by a magnifying laparoscope. The brown-reddish green spots corresponded microscopically to the deposits of bile pigments, but not to bile plugs. IV) In spite of the difference in causes, the peritoneoscopic findings of cholestasis were almost the same. In acute hepatitis B, however, the green spots were somewhat turbid, which might be due to the inflammatory thickening of the liver capsule. V) From these results, it may be concluded that the peritoneoscopic analysis of cholestasis by a magnifying laparoscope will correlate well with the histological analysis by a microscope.
