Conditions & Treatments: Symptoms, Causes and Risk Factors, Diagnosis, Treatment

Image-guided liver biopsy - What it is

In this procedure, small pieces of liver tissue are taken for analysis. This is done for to

Diagnose tumours in the liver (targeted to certain areas which contain tumour)
Diagnose cirrhosis or other liver disease (non targeted)

This procedure can be done either by direct access to the liver through a tiny incision in the upper abdominal wall (percutaneous) or through the veins inside the liver which is reached from the jugular vein in the neck (transjugular). The transjugular approach is for non targeted biopsies only.

Percutaneous procedure is usually performed after administration of local anaesthetic to numb the site of skin puncture site in the upper abdomen. Subsequently a biopsy needle is introduced through a small incision in the upper abdomen under real time ultrasound guidance and the tissue samples are acquired. Usually two to three samples are taken but more samples may be taken if several tests are requested.

Transjugular procedure is also usually performed after administration of local anaesthetic to numb the skin puncture site in the neck. Subsequently a blood vessel (the internal jugular vein) is punctured to gain access to the vascular system. Through the vascular system, the equipment will then be directed to the lvier to get a biopsy.