Brown induration is fibrosis and hemosiderin pigmentation of the lungs due to long standing pulmonary congestion (chronic passive congestion).

It is a common pathologic end-point for a number of processes, including damage by toxins, metabolic diseases, or virus-induced hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, passive congestion secondary to heart failure, or infection with parasites.

The gross pathological appearance of a liver affected by chronic passive congestion is "speckled" like a grated nutmeg kernel; the dark spots represent the dilated and congested hepatic venules and small hepatic veins.

In hepatology, congestive hepatopathy, also known as nutmeg liver and chronic passive congestion of the liver, is liver dysfunction due to venous congestion, usually cardiac dysfunction, i.e. right heart failure or (less specifically) congestive heart failure.

Venous congestion is the dilation of veins and capillaries due to impaired venous drainage which results in passive hyperaemia or venous congestion, commonly referred to as congestion.