Stereological and Topological Analysis of Cirrhotic Livers as a Linkage of Regenerative Nodules Multiply Connected in the Form of Three-Dimensional Network

Summary

The microstructure of cirrhotic liver was assimilated by a dispersion system of spherical regenerative nodules of different raii r. By assuming some distribution function for r, a stereological method was established to characterize the different patterns of cirrhosis in three-dimensional metric terms. On the other hand, reconstruction from serial sections disclosed that the nodules were united with one another to form a ‘nodular network’ in the space. The internodular connectivity was expressed by the estimated total connectivity number p_l of the liver, which was widely different according to different pattern of cirrhosis. It revealed the importance not only of metric but of non-metric analysis in dealing with a biological structure like liver cirrhosis.