Published in:
01-10-2007 | ORIGINAL PAPER
The Practice of Percutaneous Liver Biopsy in a Gastrohepatology Day Hospital: A Retrospective Study on 835 Biopsies
Authors:
Giovanni Clemente Actis, Alda Olivero, Marco Lagget, Rinaldo Pellicano, Antonina Smedile, Mario Rizzetto
Published in:
Digestive Diseases and Sciences
|
Issue 10/2007
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Abstract
The evolving role of liver biopsy has induced the formulation of several guidelines on its appropriateness. However, the great divergence among hepatologists is still unresolved. We report the 4-year activity of a day hospital of gastrohepatology in northern Italy. Between January 2001 and July 2004, 835 subjects (mean age, 43±12 years) underwent this procedure in our facility. Etiologically, in 465 (56%) and 157 (19%) patients, chronic hepatitis C and nonspecific elevated liver biochemical tests were the first and second indications, followed by chronic hepatitis B and suspected nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. On a purpose basis, procedures requested for staging (n = 578) and/or for diagnosis (n = 217) were identified. Among the former, 80% had the scope of staging chronic hepatitis C, and in 15% of these unsuspected superimposed cirrhosis was detected. Among diagnostic procedures, nonspecific raised liver enzyme level ranked first. Twenty-two percent of patients reported unwanted effects following the procedure. In conclusion, these data accord with indications expressed by international guidelines. The impact of liver biopsy on therapeutic decision-making needs to be studied further.