Copper deposition in oligodendroglial cells in an autopsied case of hepatolenticular degeneration.

We present a case of hepatolenticular degeneration, so-called Wilson's disease (WD), in a 31-year-old Japanese man with broader deposition of copper in the liver, kidney and brain. The liver showed severe cirrhotic changes with macronodular pseudolobule formation, but there was little difference in immunohistochemical expression patterns of the copper transporter ATP7B between the control and present case. In the brain, there were both WD-related lesions such as the scattering of Opalski cells and changes caused by hepatic encephalopathy including the appearance of Alzheimer type II glia.