An elderly diabetic man died after an episode of abdominal pain and fever that lasted two days. He was known to have a “disease in the liver” and biliary lithiasis. In fact, he had liver cirrhosis as seen at autopsy. There were also dark gallstones and a brown-pigmented pancreas. The cause of death was acute pancreatitis. Microphotograph shows excessive amounts of iron stores within hepatocytes (Perls prussian blue stain).
Perls stain is the oldest histochemical technique still in use (Max Perls, 1846).
