Disease patterns and entities in adult liver consult cases highlight challenging areas in diagnostic hepatopathology practice.

Abstract

Difficult liver pathology cases often require expert review for optimal patient care. We reviewed consult cases received in our reference centre aiming to highlight challenging areas in hepatopathology that may benefit from specialist consultation and focused educational activities. We included all primary liver consult cases received between 10/2016 and 12/2022. Data on the sender and aetiology for consultation were collected. Initial and consult reports were screened for adequacy of clinical information, stains performed, final diagnosis and disease grading/staging. We retrieved 219 liver consults, 187 submitted by hepatologists. For medical cases, most common initial diagnoses were non-specific changes, chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis without underlying aetiology. Most common consult diagnoses were vascular disease, primary biliary cholangitis and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (p < 0.001). Major change in initial diagnosis was noted in 72 (49%), minor change in 38 (25.9%) and no change in 23 (15.6%) cases. For focal liver lesions (n = 72), most common initial diagnoses were hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), non-specific or metastatic. Most common consult diagnoses were HCC, cholangiocarcinoma or non-neoplastic liver (p = 0.033). Major change in initial diagnosis was noted in 30 (41.7%), minor change in 24 (33.3%) and no change in 15 (20.8%) cases. Study of liver consult patterns provides useful information on areas of hepatopathology posing diagnostic difficulty. Most challenging fields are vascular liver disease, interpretation of hepatitic pattern, primary cholangiopathy and classification and subtyping of hepatocellular tumours. These areas can be the subject for future medical educational activities in hepatopathology.