The liver biopsy in viral hepatitis C

ABSTRACT

The World Health Organization estimates the world prevalence of viral hepatitis C at 3%. The advent of therapeutic regimens for viral hepatitis has made the liver biopsy a routine specimen in the surgical pathology laboratory. The clinician will need to know the degree and type of necroinflammatory activity and the presence and level of fibrosis, before making the decision to start therapy. The biopsy is essential in determining the nature and extent of hepatic injury, the degree of inflammation, the type of inflammatory reaction, the distribution of fibrosis and the presence of other findings affecting the patient's prognosis. A scoring system is essential in the therapeutic trials for treatment of viral hepatitis and can be helpful in making therapeutic decisions. The aim of this article is to summarize the terminology, histologic findings, the available and more commonly used scoring systems and the surgical report of chronic viral hepatitis C.