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Morphometric investigations were carried out on the portal tracts of the liver in different forms of chronic hepatitis. The investigation groups each contained 25 liver biopsies, which were subdivided into cases with normal liver, a subsiding acute virus hepatitis, three different forms of chronic persistent hepatitis (CPH) and chronic aggressive hepatitis type IIa (CAH IIa). Determinations of the volume and surface of the portal tracts and their components enabled three forms of COH (type Ia, Ib, Ic) to be characterised. Preliminary clinical and semiquantitative histological investigations were correlated with a significant difference in the histological characteristics and prognosis. HBsAg-positive and HBsAg-negative cases showed no significant morphologically detectable differences in all grups investigated. Morphometry is suitable for investigation of pathological changes in liver tissue, especially the portal tracts.

Among 4903 liver biopsies were found 96 cases (241 biopsies) of non-active hepatitis persisting for longer than one year (up to 12 years). Three forms of the course of chronic persistent hepatitis could be delimited in morphological terms taking into account clinical laparoscopic and clinical chemical data. The type Ia presents the picture of a largely subsided, lobular accentuated acute virus hepatitis. The type Ib corresponds to a chronic inflammation with emphasis on the portal system without destruction of the limiting plate, without fibrosis and with only slight intralobular involvement. The type Ic is characterized by a portal and slight septal fibrosis with round-cell infiltrates and a slight facultative periportally active inflammation as well as a moderate intralobular mesenchyme reaction. The typing permits a clear subdivision and a differentiated prognosis: 10% of the cases of type Ic pass into an active chronic hepatitis of the type IIa.