Complications of transjugular biopsies

Abstract

Transvenous biopsy was first performed in 1964 by Charles Dotter. Now routinely performed in the liver and kidney by interventional radiologists, the transjugular approach to biopsy has assumed a central role in coagulopathic patients. Major arterial complications from transjugular liver and renal biopsy are rare. In this article, the authors describe such complications in both organs that necessitated selective endovascular coil embolization.