Abstract
Fourteen resin liver casts obtained from patients with advanced cirrhosis who underwent liver transplantation were evaluated. The findings were compared with a cast obtained from a case without cirrhosis and without portal hypertension. The most common alteration was dissociation between the two venous beds, existing in a variable degree in all casts, in a diffuse or focal manner, in some cases, associated with thrombosis of one or more intrahepatic branches of the portal vein. Other signs suggestive of portal hypertension were also found, such as dilated intrahepatic branches of the portal vein, corkscrew-shaped venules, close the surface of the liver and dilated venous collaterals, which originally communicated with a systemic vein.
The author considers the resin casts a good research resource, able to complementing data from pathology and modern imaging studies.