Hepatic Abnormalities in Congestive Heart Failure

Abstract

Needle biopsies of the liver were performed on 30 patients with heart failure and correlated with clinical features and biochemical liver function studies. Hepatic biopsy served as a useful adjunct to other methods in deciding the status of the liver in this group. Type of heart disease, degree of heart failure and length of heart failure could not be correlated with the observed histology. Neither history, physical examination, nor biochemical functional studies provided sufficient information to predict anatomy with certainty. A histologic diagnosis improved both therapeutic and prognostic perspective.