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Decreasing Liver Biopsy Complications
- Florian Froehlich, MD;
- Michael Fried, MD; and
- Jean-Jacques Gonvers, MD
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TO THE EDITOR:
We read with interest the retrospective review by Janes and Lindor [1] on the outcome of patients hospitalized for complications after outpatient liver biopsy. The authors report a complication rate of 3.2%. The varying reported complication rates of liver biopsy may be explained in part by the use of different needle types [2]. Complications have been more frequent with the Tru-Cut (Baxter, Valencia, California) needle than with the Menghini needle [3]. The high complication rate in Janes and Lindor's review, compared with other studies [2, 3], could therefore be caused by the predominant use (92%) of Tru-Cut needles.
Operator experience, known to have a major effect on the complication rate after liver biopsy [4], could also have contributed because 86% of the biopsies were done by fellows. We recently confirmed the importance of training and experience in a nationwide survey in Switzerland [5]. We found that gastroenterologists and internists doing more than 50 biopsies each year had significantly fewer complications when compared with internists doing fewer than 50 biopsies.
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
Type with double-spacing
Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
- Copyright 2004 by the American College of Physicians
