Why have a biopsy?

My doctor called me 2 days ago and told me he wanted me to have a liver biopsy for PBC. I'm not sur if he wanted to rule it out or stage it. Would you do a biopsy just to rule PBC out?

[Thomas D Schiano, MD]

if the AMA blood test is strongly (+), one could argue that a liver biopsy does not change the management.  there is a lot of sampling error with PBC biopsies so the stage can be underestimated.  if the liver tests are abnormal and the diagnosis is in question (i.e. AMA (-) or at low titer) than a biopsy may help to establish a diagnosis.