Pathologic causes of liver disease in Sudanese children: Results of 450 liver needle biopsies at a single children hospital.

The pathologic diagnoses of percutaneous 450 liver biopsies performed at the Gastroenterology Unit, Gaafar Ibnoof Specialized Children Hospital, Khartoum, Sudan during a five-year period (2005 to 2010) were reviewed. The cohort consisted of children aged between 1 month and 15 years, of whom 42% were less than 1 year of age. The male to female ratio was 1.4:1. The most common histological diagnosis was liver cirrhosis (26%), where no specific cause could be found, followed by neonatal hepatitis (20%), fatty liver (12%), billary atresia (10%), chronic hepatitis (8%), metabolic liver disease (6%), progressive intrahepatic cholestasis (5.5%), non-specific pathological changes (4.4%) and hepatocellular carcinoma in (4%). In conclusion, liver biopsy is a useful and practical tool for the appropriate diagnosis of pediatric liver diseases. Hepatocellular carcinoma has significantly higher prevalence in our pediatrics population.