[Ultrasound-guided puncture and biopsy in the diagnosis of chronic liver diseases: report of 447 cases].

Our aim was to evaluate practices of percutaneous liver biopsies over the last 11 years in our center in focal or diffuse liver disease. Records of 447 patients who underwent ultrasound-guided liver biopsy between 1998 and 1999 were reviewed. Three experienced physicians performed all liver biopsies with a Menghini needle or fine needle. In all cases the puncture site was determined using prebiopsy ultrasound. Liver biopsies were performed on 423 hospitalized patients and 24 outpatients. The suspicion of primary liver cancer was the indication in 72.7% of the cases. In 75.2% patients definitive or indicative pathological diagnosis were obtained. 208 biopsies out of 229 (90.8%) and 215 cytological punctures out of 239 (89.9%) were interpretable. Histological diagnosis obtained were primary malignamt tumor in 235 cases (58.2%), cirrhosis in 26 cases (6.4%), chronic hepatitis in 32 cases (7.9%), and normal tissue in 56 cases (13.9%). Only 2 hemorrhagic complications requiring blood transfusion (0.4%) and one needle-tract tumor seeding (0.2%) occured 42 months later. We concluded that ultrasound-guided percutaneous liver biopsy is a quick method of assessment increasing the diagnosis yield by this procedure and maintaining low complications.