NODULAR REGENERATIVE HYPERPLASIA OF THE LIVER IN A PATIENT WITH SYSTEMIC-SCLEROSIS

We report on a 33-year-old female patient with systemic sclerosis and nodular regenerative hyperplasia of the liver (NRHL). A needle biopsy of the patient's liver did not reveal the histology of NRHL or liver c irrhosis at her first visit to our hospital, when portal hypertension was demonstrated by percutaneous transhepatic portography. After 11 ye ars, the patient died of hepatic and renal failure. At the time of aut opsy, multiple nodules were found in the liver, and a microscopic exam ination showed a histology compatible with NRHL. It is suggested that the immunological disturbance was related to the patient's portal hype rtension and NRHL.