Introduction

• Surgical biopsy of liver via cranial midline abdominal incision.

Uses

• Establish specific diagnosis (neoplasia, infectious, copper storage disease, inflammatory, etc).
• Help develop therapeutic plan.
• Evaluate response to therapy.
• Prognostic indicator.

Advantages

• Excellent visualization of liver.
• Representative tissue sample obtained.
• Decreased risk of surgical trauma to important liver structures.
• Accurate hemostasis.
• Several techniques available.

Disadvantages

• Requires general anesthesia.
• Incisional hernia (hypoproteinemia).
• Invasive.

Requirements

Preparation

Procedure

Aftercare

Further Reading

Publications

Refereed papers

• Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
• Cole T L, Center S A, Flood S N et al (2002) Diagnostic comparison of needle and wedge biopsy specimens of the liver in dogs and cats. JAVMA 220 (10), 1483-1490 PubMed.
• Roth L (2001) Comparison of liver cytology and biopsy diagnoses in dogs and cats: 56 cases. Vet Clin Pathol 30 (1), 35-38 PubMed.
• Twedt D C (1998) Diagnosis of liver disease in companion animals. Vet Q 20 (Suppl 1), S44-46 PubMed.