Abstract
Peritoneoscopic findings in 119 cases of alcoholic liver injury were assessed with special referrence to histological changes. These are as follows : the incidence and severity of swelling of left liver lobe, thickening and blunting of liver edge, unevenness of liver surface, lymphatic cysts and development of collateral vessels increased in parallel with the histological grade of fibrosis. The characteristic peritoneoscopic finding in hepatic fibrosis of chronic alcoholics, which is considered to be a key lesion for the evolution to liver cirrhosis, was blurred whitish markings. This finding was observed in 44% of the cases and was thought to be in accordance with a histological changes called wiremesh fibrosis. Protrusion and/or ditch-like depression was encountered in alcoholic hepatitis with a relatively high incidence and closely correlated with the histological extent and severity of necrosis, collapse and/or regeneration of hepatic parenchyma. Peritoneoscopy failed to demonstrate any recognizable nodule on liver surface in three cases with his-tologically proven sublobular cirrhosis, which was considered to be very early stage of alcoholic cirrhosis. Red patch and/or reddish markings, which are frequently observed in viral liver diseases, were scarcely found in alcoholic liver injury and thought to be useful for differential diagnosis.
