Role of liver biopsy in the management of idiosyncratic DILI

Abstract

Drug‐induced liver injury (DILI) presents unique challenges in clinical practice. While some types of DILI are mild and resolve quickly after removing the drug, other situations are more complex, with competing aetiologies or underlying liver disease. Guidelines from professional societies agree that the liver biopsy retains a role in understanding and managing DILI in certain situations. Liver biopsy allows characterization of the histological pattern of injury as well as assessment of severity. Inflammatory infiltrates, bile duct injury or loss and vascular injury are all revealed by liver biopsy. Communication between the hepatopathologist and clinical team with clinicopathological correlation of the findings is necessary for the best determination of causality and differentiation from other diseases of exclusion, like autoimmune hepatitis and graft‐versus‐host disease. This review highlights important aspects of the role of liver biopsy in DILI evaluation.