The Role of Liver Biopsy to Assess Alcoholic Liver Disease

Liver biopsy due to the limitations is not recommended for all patients with suspected Alcoholic Liver Disease (ALD) but useful for establishing the stage and severity of ALD, in case of aggressive forms or severe steatohepatitis requiring specific therapies, for distinguishing comorbid liver pathology. Procedure is invasive and that's why associated with some potential adverse effects and complications which may be minor (pain or vagal reactions, transient hypotension) or major such as visceral perforation, bile peritonitis or significant bleeding. The typical histological features in patients with ALD include steatosis, hepatocellular damage (ballooning and/or Mallory-Denk bodies), lobular inflammation with basically polymorphonuclear cells infiltration, with a variable degree of fibrosis and lobular distortion that may progress to cirrhosis which confers a high risk of complications (ascites, variceal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy, renal failure and bacterial infections).