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In patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, needle liver biopsy is used to assess severity of histologic damage and to guide treatment decisions. However, the diagnostic accuracy of this procedure is diminished by sampling error and variability in pathologists’ readings. Some experts suggest that specimen length should be at least 20 mm. To evaluate how specimen size affects histologic grading and staging of biopsy specimens, researchers examined 100 liver specimens, obtained from patients with chronic HCV infection who were treated at a single center from 1996 through 2001. All specimens were at least 20 mm in size.
A single pathologist examined two slides of each specimen during four separate sessions, spaced over several months. …