Abstract: Objective To investigate the etiologies and the pathological characteristics of patients underwent liver biopsy. Methods 1571 patients underwent liver biopsies were collected from 2007 to 2013 and they were all excluded from neoplastic diseases. Results The 5 common causes of nonneoplastic lesions in our series were unknown etiology （73.6%）,hepatitis B （10.0%）,fatty liver （7.4%）,primary biliary cirrhosis （4.1%） and hepatitis C（1.6%）;Patients with unknown etiology were usually accompanied by other visceral damage which resulting in nonspecific hepatic lesion;the main clinical symptoms of hepatitis B were fatigue,loss of appetite and jaundice,and its pathological characteristics included ground glass hepatocytes,cellular swelling and spotty and focal necrosis;The hepatic steatosis was diagnosed based on relevant risk factors and the exclusion of other etiologies;Primary biliary cirrhosis was featured by serum anti-mitochondria antibody positive and chronic nonsuppurative damage of small bile ducts;Patients infected with hepatitis C might be asymptomatic,and the pathological characteristics included hepatocellular swelling,hepatic steatosis,fibrous hyperplasia and lymphocytic infiltration in portal area. Conclusion With their respective pathological characteristics,liver diseases of unknown etiology,hepatitis B,fatty liver disease,primary biliary cirrhosis and hepatitis C are the main diagnosis by liver biopsies.

Key words: Liver biopsy, Etiology, Pathological characteristic