title: Hepatic involvement in paediatric patients with paracoccidioidomycosis: a histological study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Paracoccidioidomycosis is a systemic mycosis that is endemic to certain countries in Latin America. This study aimed to describe the histological features of liver involvement in patients with paracoccidioidomycosis aged <16 years of age who were treated between 1980 and 2010, with a diagnosis that was confirmed by detection of the fungus by pathological examination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Liver tissue was obtained from one necropsy and 12 biopsies. Throughout 2007, biopsies were taken from patients with persistent jaundice or portal hypertension, after which biopsies became indicated due to elevated aminotransferase and low albumin levels. Using haematoxylin and eosin (H&E), Masson's trichrome and immunohistochemical (CK7 and CK19) staining, we noted degenerative alterations in bile duct cells and inflammatory injury to the bile ducts in 10 biopsies. Using immunohistochemistry for CK7 and CK19, we observed ductal proliferation in all 12 samples.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bile duct injuries by inflammatory cells might explain the predominant increase in canalicular enzymes; immunohistochemistry is more sensitive in demonstrating ductular reactions and might show changes that are not apparent on H&E staining.
authors.affiliation: Center for Investigation in Pediatrics, UNICAMP School of Medicine, Campinas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Giselle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: de Melo Braga
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hessel
authors.forename: Ricardo Mendes
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Cecília Amélia Fazzio
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Escanhoela
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053539:Keratin-19 / Q000378:metabolism; D053552:Keratin-7 / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D010229:Paracoccidioidomycosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D053539:Keratin-19; D053552:Keratin-7
keywords: bile ducts; immunohistochemistry; liver; paediatrics; paracoccidioidomycosis