Abstract

LOPEZ PANQUEVA, Rocío del Pilar. Liver Biopsies in Transplant Pathology. Rev Col Gastroenterol [online]. 2016, vol.31, n.2, pp.169-179. ISSN 0120-9957.

Biopsies of liver allografts are still considered to be the gold standard. They play an important and integral role in the interpretation and explanation of changes that may occur in response to alterations in function tests,  in the interpretation and explanation of liver biochemistry, in the interpretation and explanation of functional abnormalities, and in the interpretation and explanation of diagnostic images (whether or not accompanied by symptoms). Biopsies are also useful for monitoring and are often part of the protocol (1-3). The evaluation of biopsy samples after transplantation can be difficult especially because of the very broad spectrum of complications that may arise in the post-transplant period. Many of them require immediate diagnosis and treatment despite this difficulty. Although the most common condition is acute rejection, many other conditions and disorders can be observed. They include perfusion/reperfusion alterations, functional impairment, recurrence of underlying diseases, injury to the bile duct, vascular lesions, opportunistic infections, de novo pathologies such as autoimmune hepatitis, post-transplant idiopathic chronic hepatitis, drug toxicity, and tumors (4). This is the second article about the pathology of liver transplantation. It discusses the most common pathologies in the early post-transplant period and provides a histopathological approach towards difficulties and controversies for adequate clinicopathological correlation

Keywords : Liver transplantation; liver biopsy; graft dysfunction; perfusion ischemia; reperfusion injury; allograft rejection; acute humoral rejection; C4d; acute cellular rejection; portal inflammation; ductulitis; endotheliitis; endothelialitis.

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