cancers
Article
Diagnostic Yield of Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Liver
Biopsy in Comparison to Percutaneous Liver Biopsy:
A Two-Center Experience
Antonio Facciorusso
1
, Daryl Ramai
2
, Maria Cristina Conti Bellocchi
3
, Laura Bernardoni
3
, Erminia Manfrin
4
,
Nicola Muscatiello
1
and Stefano Francesco Crinò
3,
*
Citation: Facciorusso, A.; Ramai, D.;
Conti Bellocchi, M.C.; Bernardoni, L.;
Manfrin, E.; Muscatiello, N.; Crinò,
S.F. Diagnostic Yield of Endoscopic
Ultrasound-Guided Liver Biopsy in
Comparison to Percutaneous Liver
Biopsy: A Two-Center Experience.
Cancers 2021, 13, 3062. https://
doi.org/10.3390/cancers13123062
Academic Editor: Masaru Miyazaki
Received: 3 May 2021
Accepted: 16 June 2021
Published: 19 June 2021
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4.0/).
1
Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia,
Italy; antonio.facciorusso@virgilio.it (A.F.); nicomuscatiello@gmail.com (N.M.)
2
Department of Internal Medicine, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Brooklyn, New York, NY 11201, USA;
dramai@tbh.org
3
Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy Unit, The Pancreas Institute, G.B. Rossi University Hospital,
37134 Verona, Italy; mariacristina.contibellocchi@aovr.veneto.it (M.C.C.B.);
laura.bernardoni@aovr.veneto.it (L.B.)
4
Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, G.B. Rossi University Hospital, 37134 Verona, Italy;
erminia.manfrin@univr.it
* Correspondence: stefanofrancesco.crino@aovr.veneto.it
Simple Summary: Traditionally, liver biopsy has been performed by percutaneous radiology-guided
methods. Advances in endoscopic ultrasound have demonstrated the efficacy of endoscopic based
techniques for liver biopsy. Studies comparing both methods are scarce and have conflicting results.
Our study compares percutaneous and endoscopic ultrasound methods for liver biopsy. Our analysis
shows no evidence to support the wide use of endoscopic ultrasound. Percutaneous liver biopsy
remains the sampling method of choice in this field.
Abstract: There is scarce and conflicting evidence on the comparison between endoscopic ultrasound
(EUS) and percutaneous (PC)-guided liver biopsy (LB). The aim of this study was to compare the
two approaches in a series of patients with parenchymal and focal liver lesions. Fifty-four patients
undergoing EUS-LB in two high-volume centers between 2017 and 2021 were compared to 62
patients who underwent PC-LB. The primary outcome was diagnostic adequacy rate. The secondary
outcomes were diagnostic accuracy, total sample length (TSL), number of complete portal tracts
(CPTs), procedural duration, and adverse events. Variables were compared using the Chi-square
and Mann–Whitney test. Median age was 56 years (interquartile range 48–69) in the EUS-LB group
and 54 years (45–67) in the PC-LB group with most patients being male. Indication for LB was due
to parenchymal disease in 50% of patients, whereas the other patients underwent LB due to focal
liver lesions. Diagnostic adequacy was 100% in PC-LB and 94.4% in the EUS-LB group (p = 0.74),
whereas diagnostic accuracy was 88.8% in the EUS-LB group and 100% in the PC-LB group (p = 0.82).
Median TSL was significantly greater in the PC-LB group (27.4 mm, IQR 21–29) when compared to
the EUS-LB group (18.5 mm, 10.1–22.4; p = 0.02). The number of complete portal tracts was 21 (11–24)
in the PC-LB group and 18.5 (10–23.2) in EUS-LB group (p = 0.09). EUS-LB was a significantly longer
procedure (7 min, 5–11 versus 1 min, 1–3 of PC-LB; p < 0.001) and no evidence of adverse events
was observed in any of the study groups. These results were confirmed in the subgroup analysis
performed according to an indication for LB (parenchymal disease versus focal lesion). Although
PC-LB yielded specimens with greater TSL, diagnostic adequacy and accuracy were similar between
the two procedures.
Keywords: endoscopic ultrasound; liver biopsy; percutaneous liver biopsy
Cancers 2021, 13, 3062. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13123062 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/cancers