Liver biopsy is an invasive procedure in which a piece of liver is extracted using a needle under ultrasound guidance for examination under a microscope. The procedure has many approaches, the most common being percutaneous liver biopsy. It involves inserting a thin needle through your abdomen into the liver and removing a small piece of tissue.

Other approaches of liver biopsy are— using a vein in the neck (transjugular) and the other through a small abdominal incision (laparoscopic).

It must be noted that a liver biopsy is mostly recommended to confirm the diagnosis unequivocally, identifying stage of disease and monitor course of disease.

Indications: 

1. Cirrhosis/fibrosis

2. Viral hepatitis

3. Sarcoidosis

4. Primary biliary cirrhosis

5. Primary sclerosing cholangitis

6. Autoimmune hepatitis

7. Liver masses (metastases)

8. Hepatocellular carcinoma (staging)