Liver biopsy and clinical features of liver injury of unknown origin： An analysis of 94 cases / 临床肝胆病杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo summarize the liver biopsy and clinical features of patients with liver injury of unknown origin， and to investigate the value of ultrasound-guided percutaneous liver biopsy in the diagnosis of liver injury of unknown origin. MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data and ultrasound-guided percutaneous liver biopsy results of 94 patients with liver injury of unknown origin who were admitted to Zhongshan Hospital， Xiamen University， from January 2018 to February 2023. According to the proportion of the patients with different final diagnoses， the patients were divided into autoimmune liver disease （AILD） group， metabolic associated fatty liver disease （MAFLD） group， drug-induced liver injury （DILI） group， alcoholic liver disease （ALD） group， and unknown group. An analysis of variance was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups， and the Bonferroni analysis or the Dunnett’ T3 test was used for further comparison between two groups； the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups； the Fisher’s exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between multiple groups. ResultsAll 94 patients with liver injury of unknown origin underwent ultrasound-guided percutaneous liver biopsy after admission， among whom 90 patients （95.7%） had a confirmed diagnosis based on liver biopsy and clinical features. There were 43 patients （45.7%） with AILD， 21 （22.3%） with MAFLD， 15 （16.0%） with DILI， 6 （6.4%） with ALD， 1 （1.1%） with AILD and MAFLD， 1 （1.1%） with hemochromatosis， 1 （1.1%） with Budd-Chiari syndrome， 1 （1.1%） with congenital hepatic fibrosis， and 1 （1.1%） with idiopathic portal hypertension， while 4 patients （4.3%） still had an unknown etiology after liver biopsy. There were significant differences between the patients with top five diagnoses in age （F=4.457， P<0.05） ， body mass index （BMI） （F=3.245， P<0.05）， aspartate aminotransferase （AST） （H=11.128， P<0.05）， gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase （GGT） （H=24.789， P<0.05）， alkaline phosphatase （ALP） （H=26.013， P<0.05）， IgG （H=19.099， P<0.05）， IgM （H=21.263， P<0.05）， AMA-M2 positive rate （P<0.05）， and ANA positive rate （P<0.05）. Compared with the MAFLD group， the AILD group had significantly higher age， AST， GGT， and ALP and a significantly lower BMI； compared with the MAFLD group and the DILI group， the AILD group had significant increases in IgG and IgM； the AILD group had significant increases in the positive rates of AMA-M2 and ANA compared with the other four groups. ConclusionAILD， MAFLD， and DILI are the most common causes in patients with liver injury of unknown origin. Ultrasound-guided percutaneous liver biopsy plays an important role in determining the cause of liver injury of unknown origin， but it is still needed to make a comprehensive analysis based on clinical history， different types of liver injury， laboratory markers， and imaging data.