Histological and laboratory features of patients undergoing liver biopsy at a university hospital in Central Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVE: To identify the most common liver pathologies seen in our center, to find the prevalence of advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B and C, and to correlate the histological and laboratory features of the most common diseases and compare between them.

METHODS: Liver biopsy procedures performed in our Gastroenterology Unit at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were traced from records between the years 1997-2003. Clinical, histopathological, and laboratory features were recorded.

RESULTS: We identified 574 liver biopsies during the study period. Of the 502 included patients, males were 58.6%. The mean age of the patients was 43.5 years. Approximately half of the biopsies (49%) were performed for patients with hepatitis C, followed by hepatitis B, for which 17% of the biopsies were performed. Patients with hepatitis B were approximately 10 years younger than patients with hepatitis C (p=0.01). They were 10% more likely to be males. In terms of fibrosis, only approximately 17% of patients with hepatitis B and 27% of patients with hepatitis C had advanced fibrosis.

CONCLUSION: Most liver biopsies performed in our center are performed for patients with hepatitis C. Rates of advanced fibrosis in our series are significantly lower than what was previously reported in other studies.