Diagnostic yield improvement by routine ultrasound-guided liver biopsy in viral chronic hepatitis

Abstract

Ultrasound (US) assisted and US-guided percutaneous liver biopsy in patients affected by viral chronic hepatitis are considered to be safer than blind needle procedure. Some authors described diagnostic yield increasing by routine US-assisted needle biopsy but differences between diagnostic yield and safety of US-guided liver biopsy and US-assisted procedure have never been investigated. In our department we performed 176 US-guided and 181 US-assisted needle biopsies in 357 patients affected by viral chronic hepatitis. We used a Menghini modified 16 Gauche (G) automatic needle by using inter-costal approach. No major complication were observed.