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Outcome and safety of targeted liver biopsies for indeterminate lesions in patients with chronic liver disease: A single centre experience
Author(s) -
Chen Xiao,
Kutaiba Numan,
Ngo Brian,
Goodwin Mark
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of medical imaging and radiation oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.31
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1754-9485
pISSN - 1754-9477
DOI - 10.1111/1754-9485.12856
Subject(s) - medicine , hepatocellular carcinoma , biopsy , cirrhosis , radiology , liver biopsy , gastroenterology
To evaluate the histopathological and safety outcomes of indeterminate lesions in patients at high risk for developing hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC ) who underwent ultrasound‐guided biopsies. Methods Ultrasound‐guided targeted liver biopsies for indeterminate lesions performed in a 10‐year period at our institution were reviewed retrospectively for lesion characteristics, biopsy techniques, histopathological results and post procedural complications. Results A total of 172 biopsies were performed in 152 patients. Most common background liver disease included hepatitis C, hepatitis B, alcoholic and non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis. 65.1% had known cirrhosis at time of biopsy. HCC was the most common histopathological finding accounting for 55.8% of all biopsies, followed by cholangiocarcinoma, dysplastic nodule and metastasis. Rarer lesions including lymphoma, neuroendocrine tumour and angiomyolipoma were also encountered. No mortality, clinically significant bleeding or tumour seeding was detected. Conclusions Ultrasound‐guided liver biopsies of indeterminate lesions in patients at high risk of HCC yield important histopathological findings, important for management options including the provision of curative treatments and assisting future novel therapies such as immunotherapy and targeted therapies. The low complication rates confirm its safety and the procedure should not be avoided for fear of complications.