Instead of referring their patients to an interventional radiologist, more hepatologists and gastroenterologists are performing liver biopsies themselves, Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News reported.
Physicians weighed in on the difference:
1. If hepatologists do a biopsy themselves, then they are more likely to get a thicker core, said Nizar Senussi, MD, who is completing an advanced/transplant hepatology fellowship at the Seattle-based Swedish Medical Center.
2. Doing a biopsy yourself ensures the sample is adequate, said Devika Kapuria, MD, who is completing a gastroenterology fellowship at Albuquerque-based University of New Mexico.
3. Performing biopsies yourself makes more sense in an inpatient setting where they can be accompanied by a nurse, said Renu Dhanasekaran, MD, a professor of medicine at Stanford, Calif.-based Stanford University.
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