Gross, microscopic, and bacteriologic evaluations of broiler chicken livers condemned at slaughter were performed. One hundred broiler livers were sampled. Ninety of them had gross lesions and were condemned by the meat inspection service. Ten of them were grossly normal. The sampling was done in two processing plants located in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. For the gross evaluation, the following parameters were considered: shape, color, size, texture, odor, and the presence of other visible lesions. Livers with changes in color, shape, size and/or texture were 47/90; brown-pale livers with other associated macroscopic lesions were 19/90; yellow or yellowish livers with other associated gross lesions were 5/90; and green or greenish livers with other associated lesions were 19/90. The main microscopic diagnoses consisted of multifocal heterophilic colangio-hepatitis, degeneration and/or centrilobular to bridging hepatocellular necrosis, random necrotizing hepatitis and multifocal heterophylic pericolangitis. The bacteriological evaluation was oriented to finding of Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus sp. It was carried out by direct culture of the liver samples in selective culture media. E. coli was isolated in 26/100 samples and Staphylococcus sp. in 24/100 samples. For culturing of Salmonella spp., the conventional method indicated for this bacteria was utilized. However, there was no isolation of any species of the Salmonella genus. In all the three evaluations, a high incidence of lesions suggestive of bacterial infections was observed in the condemned livers.
liver; broiler chicken; meat inspection; pathology; bacteriology
