Pattern of liver disease in a Saudi patient population: a decade of experience at security forces hospital, Riyadh, KSA

We report the pattern of liver disease revealed by a study of liver biopsies of 277 adults aged 16-85 years old from January 1983 - December 1993. The most common histological diagnoses were: cirrhosis in 22.3%, chronic active hepatitis (CAH) 16.6%, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 7.2%, fatty changes in 12% of patients. Less common diagnoses included: Cholestasis in 8 (2.8%), Hemochromatosis in 7 (2.5%), periportal fibrosis in 4 (1.4%), Wilson's disease in 3 (1%), Alcoholic hepatitis in one patient and lymphoma in one patient. Inadequate specimens were encountered in 7 (2.5%). The commonest causes of liver cirrhosis were: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 73.3% of patients tested for it and hepatitis B virus (HBV) in 23.2%. Complications related to the procedures were exceedingly low. One patient, with Budd-Chiari Syndrome required emergency laparotomy to control bleeding. In conclusion, liver cirrhosis, CAH and HCC were common patterns of chronic liver disease in this series. HCV was the most common cause of CAH and liver cirrhosis.