Role of transjugular liver biopsy in the diagnostic and therapeutic management of patients with severe liver disease

Purpose. This study sought to assess the diagnostic yield, the impact on treatment and the safety of transjugular liver biopsy. Materials and methods. We reviewed the medical records of 72 patients with severely impaired liver function who underwent transjugular biopsy at our department. Contraindications to percutaneous liver biopsy included thrombocytopenia, severe coagulopathy, marked ascites or a combination of the above. Patients were divided into four groups based on the clinically suspected cause of liver disease. Group 1 included 44 patients (58%) with acute abnormalities of liver function, whereas groups 2, 3 and 4 included patients with chronic abnormalities suspected to be due to infectious cirrhosis (12 patients, 16%), alcoholic cirrhosis (seven patients, 9%) and cirrhosis of unknown origin (13 patients, 17%), respectively. A Quick-Core (Cook, ProAct Ltd., State College, Pennsylvania, USA) needle allowing automated tissue sampling was used for all biopsies. Results. Biopsy specimens were diagnostic in 69 out of 72 patients (91%). Biopsy findings influenced treatment in 34 out of 69 patients (49%). The most significant results were obtained in group 1, where the histological diagnosis differed from clinical suspicion in 25/39 patients. There was only one major complication and four minor complications. The major complication was an arteriovenous and arteriobiliary fistula with haemorrhage and anaemia, which was successfully embolised by the same team of interventional radiologists. Conclusions. Transjugular liver biopsy proved to be a safe procedure that provided important information for the clinical and therapeutic management of patients in whom treatment would have been either empirical or unfeasible. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.