Liver & intrahepatic bile ducts

Developmental anomalies / cysts

Caroli disease



Last author update: 1 April 2012
Last staff update: 24 December 2024 (update in progress)

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PubMed Search: Caroli disease liver

Komal Arora, M.D.
Cite this page: Arora K. Caroli disease. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/Livercarolisdisease.html. Accessed December 26th, 2024.
Definition / general
  • Also called communicating cavernous biliary ectasia
  • Autosomal recessive disorder, mildly associated with autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (Wikipedia: Caroli Disease [Accessed 25 October 2017])
  • Due to arrest of remodeling of ductal plate of larger intrahepatic bile ducts
  • Usually presents during childhood and early adulthood (Curr Gastroenterol Rep 2007;9:151)
  • Larger ducts of intrahepatic biliary tree are segmentally dilated and may contain inspissated bile; when progressive, leads to intrahepatic stones, recurrent cholangitis, portal hypertension, cholangiocarcinoma and liver failure
  • Usually associated with congenital hepatic fibrosis; 7 - 14% develop dysplasia and cholangiocarcinoma
  • Often gallstones, ulcer, hyperplasia
  • Poor prognosis, with death due to sepsis or liver failure
  • Caroli syndrome: Caroli disease plus congenital hepatic fibrosis
Clinical features
  • Jaundice, right upper abdominal pain, fever; due to associated complications of hepatolithiasis or bacterial cholangitis
Gross description
  • 1 - 4 cm cysts separated by normal bile ducts
Gross images

Images hosted on other servers:

Dilated bile ducts

Microscopic (histologic) description
  • Dilated ducts lined by cuboidal or columnar epithelium with fibrotic duct wall
Microscopic (histologic) images

Images hosted on other servers:

Dilated portal bile ducts (trichrome stain), with inspissated bile, with congenital hepatic fibrosis

Differential diagnosis
  • Primary sclerosing cholangitis:
    • Autoimmune disorder associated with inflammatory bowel disease; not inherited; fibrosing cholangitis with onion skinning around affected ducts
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