Safety and performance of liver biopsies in liver transplant recipients

Background Liver biopsy in patients after liver transplantation (OLT) serves as a diagnostic tool to establish the cause of liver pathology. However, liver biopsy may cause life‐threatening complications. Very limited information is available about complications and success rates of liver biopsies i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical transplantation 2014-05, Vol.28 (5), p.585-589
Main Authors: Alten, Tim A., Negm, Ahmed A., Voigtländer, Torsten, Jaeckel, Elmar, Lehner, Frank, Brauner, Christin, Wedemeyer, Heiner, Manns, Michael P., Lankisch, Tim O.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biopsy
complication
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Graft Rejection - diagnosis
Graft Rejection - etiology
Humans
liver biopsy
Liver Diseases - complications
Liver Diseases - pathology
Liver Diseases - surgery
liver transplantation
Liver Transplantation - adverse effects
Male
Middle Aged
Patient Safety
Postoperative Complications - diagnosis
Postoperative Complications - etiology
Prognosis
quality
Retrospective Studies
Transplant Recipients
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background Liver biopsy in patients after liver transplantation (OLT) serves as a diagnostic tool to establish the cause of liver pathology. However, liver biopsy may cause life‐threatening complications. Very limited information is available about complications and success rates of liver biopsies in patients after OLT. Our aim was to investigate biopsy‐related complications and quality of specimen obtained by liver biopsy after OLT and to evaluate risks and benefits of this procedure. Methods Retrospective analysis of patients after OLT presenting for liver biopsy between January 2000 and October 2012. All patients were observed for 24 h after intervention. Twelve or more portal tracts were required for liver biopsy specimens to be considered as adequate. Results Of 703 liver biopsies were performed in 409 patients. Thirteen (1.9%) liver biopsies did not have an adequate number of portal tracts. Only 10 (1.4%) liver biopsies caused complications. Five patients suffered from pain, three patients developed post‐procedural fever, and three patients had subcapsular/intercostal bleeding. One patient suffered from a vasovagal reaction. Pain was treated by analgesics; none of the patients required blood transfusion or surgery. Conclusions Liver biopsy is a safe and adequate diagnostic tool in patients after OLT.
ISSN:0902-0063
1399-0012
DOI:10.1111/ctr.12352