Description
A portion of liver, cut to show several thin-walled cysts; the largest is some 7 cm. in diameter,
while the smallest is several mm. in diameter. The wall of the largest cyst is trabeculated; there is
no apparent reaction around the cyst wall.
History
This was an incidental finding in a woman who died of pulmonary embolism; she
suffered from Parkinson's disease and was immobile. The pulmonary embolus arose in the left
femoral vein. At autopsy, the liver weighed 1150 g., and showed many superficial thin-walled
cysts containing clear fluid. Several thin-walled cysts were also found on the surface of each
kidney. Sections of the cysts in liver and kidney show that these were lined by colloidal epithelium.
The cysts are of congenital origin.