Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Valla, Dominique-Charles
• Benhamou, Jean-Pierre

Titel

HEPATIC GRANULOMAS AND HEPATIC SARCOIDOSIS

Ist Teil von

• Clinics in liver disease, 2000-02, Vol.4 (1), p.269-285

Ort / Verlag

United States: Elsevier Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2000

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Granulomas have been defined as a focal accumulation of inflammatory cells, including cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system (macrophages). This definition is very broad and includes a variety of clinicopathologic entities. Therefore, it has been recommended that the term granuloma be restricted to those accumulations that include epithelioid cells. 24 Granulomas are a form of reaction to foreign agents. Granulomas are commonly found in the liver and the lungs, because these two organs are located just below two possible points of entry for foreign agents: the gastrointestinal tract for the liver, and airways for the lungs. Both the liver and the lungs are naturally rich in specialized macrophages. The causes of hepatic granulomas are numerous, and their identification can be difficult. Sarcoidosis is a main cause of hepatic granulomas. The mechanisms that initiate the formation of sarcoid granulomas are unknown. Hepatic sarcoidosis will be given particular attention in this article. In granulomatous hepatitis, granulomas are found exclusively in the liver. Therefore, granulomatous hepatitis should not be used as an equivalent term for hepatic granulomas.