PEDIATRICS Vol. 40 No. 6 December 1967, pp. 938-939
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SAFETY AND VALUE OF LIVER BIOPSY

J. F. L.

PEDIATRICIANS rarely use percutaneous liver biopsies in diagnostic studies of jaundiced patients. A vague fear seems to prevail that this procedure is associated with "a greater risk in children than in adults" and some pathologists are unhappy with the small amount of tissue usually obtained for study. The time has now arrived to seriously question these fears and reservations. The studies of Walker, Krivit, and Sharp in this issue, if combined with others, now bring the total published experience with percutaneous liver biopsies in children using the Menghini needle to over 300. These authors have all found this procedure to carry a very small risk of minor complications.