IN THE study of the effects of long-standing clinical hyperthyroidism, it has been noted that certain abnormalities of the liver occur. These changes are a decrease in function1 and, occasionally, alterations in the structure of the liver.2 The latter manifestation is not frequent, as shown by a recent report from the Massachusetts General Hospital,3 where no evidence of marked hepatic damage was found in any of the autopsy cases of human hyperthyroidism studied. In the group of 11 cases previously reported from this clinic, severe changes in the liver were seen in only 2.4
In investigating this problem in the laboratory, it was notedthat experimental hyperthyroidism induced in rabbits with desiccated thyroid produced profound inanition and death without significant alterations in the hepatic structure.5 On the other hand, if this were complicated by infection, severe changes in the liver resulted.6 Similar findings were obtained