Hepatic biopsy

Abstract

Hepatic biopsy plays an integral part in the formation of the diagnosis, selection of the therapy, and determination of the prognosis in clinical cases of hepatic disease. It has been shown that results of hepatic biopsy correlate well with postmortem findings and findings of liver function tests. Hepatic biopsy is not difficult to perform and the benefits usually outweigh the risks and costs. The techniques described have many variations that are influenced by the experience and skill of the practitioner and the equipment available to the practitioner. It is the authors' opinion that, with the proper training, every practitioner can obtain hepatic biopsies and, thus, increase the quality of medical care to their patients.