Unsuspected Cirrhosis Discovered During Elective Obesity Operations

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Abstract
IN THE 1960s and 1970s, a liver biopsy was routinely performed in conjunction with jejunoileal bypass operations performed for the treatment of morbid obesity. The histologic incidence of fatty liver in those patients ranged from 60% to 90%.1-3 In the same reports, a few patients were found to have more advanced stages of liver disease characterized by infiltration with inflammatory cells, Mallory bodies, centrolobular necrosis, and fibrosis. These reports provide the first evidence of the possible association between severe obesity and cirrhosis.