Liver fibroma is a rare, usually noncancerous growth made of fibrous tissue in the liver. Many people with liver fibroma have no symptoms, but some notice belly discomfort, a feeling of fullness, or swelling if the growth becomes large. The early symptoms of liver fibroma can be easy to miss, and a routine checkup can sometimes be the first step toward diagnosis. Liver fibroma can affect both children and adults, and it may stay stable for a long time. It is not usually life-threatening, and treatment often involves monitoring or surgery if it causes symptoms or the diagnosis is unclear.
How many people live with Liver fibroma?
Liver fibroma is so rare that there are no widely accepted estimates for how many people are living with it worldwide or in the United States. Most of what doctors know comes from single patient reports or very small hospital case groups, not from large tracking systems, so a reliable global or U.S. number is not available.
Overview
Liver fibromaSymptoms
Liver fibroma often causes no symptoms. When it does, people with liver fibroma may notice a feeling of fullness, mild upper belly pain, or a lump found by chance on an exam or scan.
Outlook and prognosis
Liver fibroma is usually benign and often grows slowly. Many people do well with monitoring or surgery if it causes pain, pressure, or uncertainty on scans. Outlook is generally excellent when doctors can fully assess it.
Causes and risk factors
Liver fibroma usually has no clear cause, and most cases appear sporadically rather than running in families. No well-established lifestyle or environmental risk factors are known, although doctors may look for other liver problems that can affect symptoms.
Genetic influences
Genetics are not thought to play a major role in most liver fibroma cases, and these growths are usually not inherited. Rarely, liver fibroma may appear alongside broader genetic conditions, so family history can still matter in some people.
Diagnosis
Liver fibroma is usually diagnosed after imaging, such as ultrasound, CT, or MRI, shows a liver mass. Doctors often confirm the diagnosis of Liver fibroma by examining a tissue sample under a microscope after biopsy or surgery.
Treatment and drugs
Treatment for liver fibroma depends on size, symptoms, and how certain the diagnosis is. Many people only need regular scans and checkups. Surgery may be advised if the growth is large, causing pain, or looks unclear on imaging.
Symptoms
Many people with liver fibroma feel well at first, and the growth may only show up on a scan done for another reason. When symptoms do happen, they are usually linked to the mass taking up space in the liver and pressing on nearby tissues. The early symptoms of liver fibroma are often vague, and symptoms vary from person to person and can change over time.
Small liver fibromas often cause no noticeable problems. They may be found by chance during an ultrasound or other scan done for something else.
A dull ache or pressure under the right ribs is a common symptom when the mass grows larger. Some people notice it more after meals, with movement, or when bending forward.
A liver fibroma can make the upper abdomen feel heavy, tight, or unusually full. In daily routines, this might show up as clothes feeling tighter around the waist or a sense of abdominal swelling.
If the growth presses on the stomach, you may feel full after only a small meal. This can come with reduced appetite, mild nausea, or both.
How people usually first notice Liver fibroma?
Many people first notice a liver fibroma only after an imaging test, such as an ultrasound or CT scan, is done for another reason, because these benign growths often cause no symptoms at first. When symptoms do appear, the first warning signs are usually a dull ache or pressure in the upper right abdomen, a feeling of fullness, or sometimes nausea if the growth becomes large enough to press on nearby tissue. In other words, how a liver fibroma is first noticed can vary, but it is often either an unexpected scan finding or mild belly discomfort that leads to further testing.
Types of Liver fibroma
Liver fibroma does not have widely accepted medical subtypes, so doctors usually describe it by how it shows up rather than by distinct types of liver fibroma. In daily life, this often means some people feel nothing at all, while others notice discomfort only if the growth becomes large enough to press on nearby tissue. The early symptoms of liver fibroma, when they happen, are often vague and can be easy to overlook.
No symptoms
Many people with liver fibroma have no symptoms and learn about it after an imaging test done for another reason. This is the most common pattern when the growth is small and not affecting nearby structures.
Mild pressure
Some people notice a dull ache, fullness, or discomfort in the upper right side of the belly. These symptoms can come from the fibroma pressing on nearby liver tissue or stretching the liver capsule.
Larger growths
When a liver fibroma is bigger, some may find that bloating, a feeling of abdominal heaviness, or a noticeable mass becomes more obvious. Symptoms don’t always look the same for everyone.
Can I slow down the onset of symptoms?
Probably not. There is no good evidence that diet, exercise, sleep, supplements, or other lifestyle changes can meaningfully delay the start of symptoms from a liver fibroma, which is a rare, noncancerous growth in the liver; when symptoms do happen, they are usually related to the growth’s size and location rather than to habits you can change. Regular follow-up with your doctor, and scans if they recommend them, can help spot changes early and guide treatment if needed, which may help you feel more in control even though it does not prevent symptoms.
What genetics can tell you about symptoms
For most people with a liver fibroma, genetics does not give clear, useful predictions about which symptoms will happen, how severe they will be, or when they will start. These growths are usually described by their size and location in the liver, which are the main things that affect day-to-day problems such as belly discomfort or a feeling of fullness if the growth becomes large. In short, there is no well-established genetic pattern that doctors routinely use to forecast symptoms in liver fibroma.
Causes and risk factors
In many people with liver fibroma, doctors cannot find a clear cause. Risk factors for liver fibroma are still being studied, and researchers are still learning how these pieces fit together. Age, ongoing liver injury, and other changes in liver tissue may play a part in some cases. No specific inherited gene change has been clearly linked to this tumor. Lifestyle and environmental factors such as alcohol use, obesity, infections, and toxin exposure affect liver health, but they are not proven direct causes.
What are the most common causes or risk factors?
Liver fibroma is very rare, and in most people the exact cause is not known. Most cases seem to happen by chance rather than running in families, so there is no clear inherited risk in most people, and there are also no well-proven lifestyle risks such as diet, alcohol, or smoking. Doctors may still ask about past liver injury or long-term liver problems because other scar-like liver changes can look similar, but these are not known to be common proven causes of a true liver fibroma.
Environmental and biological risk factors
The exact causes and risk factors for liver fibroma are not well understood because this tumor is very rare. Doctors often group risks into internal (biological) and external (environmental). For liver fibroma, there are only a few patterns doctors can point to, and many people have no clear trigger at all.
Liver fibroma can appear at different ages, but reported cases may cluster in certain age groups depending on the exact fibrous liver tumor. Because these tumors are so uncommon, age is only a loose pattern, not a reliable predictor.
Some case reports suggest fibrous liver tumors may be found a little more often in females. The evidence is limited, so this is not considered a strong or proven biological risk factor.
No specific toxin, infection, radiation exposure, or other outside factor has been clearly proven to cause liver fibroma. Many people with liver fibroma do not have any obvious environmental exposure behind it.
Liver fibroma is not known to have a strong, consistent link with hepatitis, cirrhosis, or most other common liver conditions. When liver fibroma is diagnosed, it often appears as an isolated finding rather than a result of longstanding liver damage.
Genetic risk factors
For most people, liver fibroma does not seem to run in families, and a clear inherited cause has not been confirmed. When people ask about genetic risk factors for liver fibroma, the short answer is that this area is still not well defined because the condition is rare. Many living with liver fibroma have no known family history of similar growths. If there are other unusual tumors, birth differences, or a strong family pattern, doctors may look more closely for a broader genetic explanation.
Sporadic cases: Most liver fibromas appear to happen sporadically, meaning they arise by chance rather than from an inherited gene change. For many people, this means relatives are not thought to have a clearly increased risk.
Tumor-only changes: When genetic changes are found, they may be limited to the fibroma itself and not present in the rest of the body. Changes like this are called somatic changes, and they usually are not passed on to children.
Family history: A family history of liver fibroma is not a well-established genetic risk factor. Still, if several close relatives have rare fibrous tumors or related growths, a genetics review may help clarify whether there is a shared inherited condition.
Rare syndromes: Rare inherited syndromes that make unusual growths more likely may sometimes be considered, but this is uncommon in liver fibroma. Carrying a genetic change doesn’t guarantee the condition will appear.
Genetic testing: Genetic testing is not routine for an isolated liver fibroma because no single inherited gene has been firmly linked to most cases. It may be considered when liver fibroma appears with other findings that suggest a broader syndrome.
Lifestyle risk factors
Liver fibroma is a rare benign liver tumor, and there are no well-established lifestyle habits that are known to directly cause it. Still, when people ask about lifestyle risk factors for liver fibroma, the main issue is how daily habits can affect overall liver health, symptoms, and treatment planning. Habits that injure the liver or worsen metabolic health may make monitoring more complicated or add strain to liver tissue. Healthy routines are therefore more about reducing added liver stress than preventing a fibroma itself.
Heavy or regular alcohol intake can damage liver cells and add inflammation or scarring around existing liver tissue. This may make symptoms, liver blood tests, or imaging findings harder to interpret in someone with a liver fibroma.
Obesity and central weight gain raise the chance of fatty liver disease and metabolic dysfunction. When these are present, they can place extra stress on the liver and complicate follow-up of a liver fibroma.
Diets high in ultra-processed foods, added sugars, and saturated fats can promote fatty liver and insulin resistance. This does not appear to cause a liver fibroma directly, but it can worsen the liver environment around it.
Physical inactivity contributes to weight gain, fatty liver, and poorer metabolic control. Regular exercise may support liver health and reduce added burdens that can affect how lifestyle affects liver fibroma in practice.
Risk prevention
There is no proven way to fully prevent liver fibroma, because these rare benign liver growths often do not have a clear, avoidable cause. In day-to-day life, prevention mostly means protecting the liver from ongoing injury and making sure any liver lump is checked properly rather than ignored. Prevention is about lowering risk, not eliminating it completely. For many living with liver fibroma, this also means follow-up care so changes are not missed.
Heavy alcohol use can damage liver tissue over time, and avoiding or limiting alcohol helps reduce ongoing strain on the liver. This is especially important if you already have liver disease or abnormal liver tests.
Vaccination against hepatitis B and avoiding blood-borne exposure can lower the risk of chronic liver inflammation. Using safer sex practices and not sharing needles also helps protect the liver.
Some drugs, supplements, and bodybuilding products can irritate the liver, especially when taken in high doses or mixed together. Talk with your doctor or pharmacist before starting new products if you have liver fibroma or other liver concerns.
Keeping a healthy weight, staying active, and managing diabetes or high cholesterol can reduce fatty liver disease and other long-term stress on the liver. Alongside medical care, everyday habits also matter.
Can you prevent Liver fibroma?
No, there is no known way to fully prevent a liver fibroma, because these rare growths usually do not have a clear cause. In general, protecting your liver by limiting alcohol, avoiding liver infections such as hepatitis, and getting care for ongoing liver problems may help overall liver health, but this has not been proven to prevent a liver fibroma.
Transmission
Liver fibroma is not infectious, so it cannot spread from one person to another through close contact, coughing, blood, food, or sex. For most people living with liver fibroma, there is no risk of giving it to family members, coworkers, or anyone at home.
Liver fibroma also is not usually inherited, and in most cases there is no clear family pattern. If you are wondering about genetic transmission of liver fibroma or how liver fibroma is inherited, the reassuring answer is that it is generally thought to happen sporadically rather than being passed from parent to child.
When to test your genes
Genetic testing is not usually needed for an isolated liver fibroma. It may be worth discussing if you or your child have multiple tumors, unusual findings, a strong family history of tumors, or features suggesting an inherited syndrome, because results can guide screening and specialist care.
Diagnosis
Liver fibroma is usually found when imaging is done for belly discomfort, a feeling of fullness, or an unrelated reason such as abnormal liver tests. Because this growth is rare and can resemble other liver masses, the diagnosis of liver fibroma often depends on combining scan results with a close review of your medical history. It’s natural to worry when symptoms don’t have a clear explanation.
Doctors ask about symptoms such as upper abdominal pain, bloating, early fullness, or a mass found on a scan. A detailed family and health history can help rule out more common liver problems and point to the next tests.
Your clinician may gently examine the abdomen to check for tenderness, swelling, or an enlarged liver. Many people with liver fibroma have a normal exam, but this step helps guide how urgent further testing may be.
Blood work is often used to check liver function and look for signs of inflammation or other liver disease. These tests cannot confirm liver fibroma, but they help rule out common conditions and show how well the liver is working.
An ultrasound is often the first imaging test because it is quick and does not use radiation. It can show that there is a solid liver mass, although it usually cannot prove that the mass is a fibroma by itself.
How is Liver fibroma diagnosed?
Liver fibroma is usually diagnosed with imaging scans, such as an ultrasound, CT scan, or MRI, often along with blood tests to check how well the liver is working and to look for signs that suggest another kind of liver growth. Because these scans cannot always tell for sure what the lump is, doctors may need to take a small tissue sample, called a biopsy, to look at it under a microscope and confirm that it is a fibroma. Genetic testing is not usually part of diagnosing a liver fibroma.
Stages of Liver fibroma
Liver fibroma does not have defined progression stages. This is because it is a rare, usually noncancerous growth that is not known for moving through clear step-by-step phases over time. Many people have no symptoms, and when symptoms of liver fibroma do happen, they often relate to the size or location of the growth rather than a true stage of disease. Doctors usually find and monitor liver fibroma with imaging tests such as ultrasound, CT, or MRI, and sometimes a biopsy is needed to confirm what it is.
Outlook and prognosis
The outlook for people with liver fibroma is generally excellent, because these tumors are benign and often cured with complete surgical removal when treatment is needed. Many remain stable and cause no serious long-term problems, especially when they are small and found incidentally. Recurrence after full excision appears to be uncommon, but follow-up may be advised if the diagnosis was uncertain or the mass could not be completely removed. Liver fibroma is not usually associated with spread to other organs, and disease-specific mortality is expected to be very low. Prognosis depends mainly on the size and location of the tumor, whether it causes symptoms or compresses nearby structures, and whether other liver disease is present.
Long-term effects
For many people, a liver fibroma does not cause major long-term problems, especially if it stays small and does not affect nearby liver tissue. When effects do happen, they are usually tied to the fibroma’s size, location, and whether it causes pressure, pain, or worry over time. The long-term picture is often reassuring because liver fibromas are generally noncancerous, but some people may still need monitoring or treatment if symptoms develop. In people with ongoing symptoms, the outlook often depends more on complications and follow-up needs than on the growth itself.
A liver fibroma can sometimes cause long-term belly discomfort or a feeling of fullness if it presses on nearby structures. Some people notice this most after meals or when bending, while others have no symptoms at all.
If the fibroma grows large, it may push on parts of the liver or nearby organs and lead to persistent pressure, nausea, or bloating. These effects are more likely to matter in people who had early symptoms of liver fibroma before it was found on imaging.
Even when a liver fibroma is harmless, many living with liver fibroma need repeat scans over time to make sure it stays stable. This can mean ongoing appointments, uncertainty, or changes in plans if the growth appears to enlarge.
Most liver fibromas do not damage overall liver function, but a large or poorly placed growth can occasionally affect how well nearby liver tissue works. Doctors may track these changes over years to see whether the fibroma is causing any meaningful blockage or strain.
How is it to live with Liver fibroma?
Living with a liver fibroma is often less dramatic than the name sounds, because many people have no symptoms at all and only learn about it after an imaging test done for something else. If the growth is larger, some may notice a dull ache or pressure in the upper right abdomen, early fullness when eating, or simple fatigue, which can make daily life feel less comfortable but does not usually disrupt every activity. For many, the biggest burden is not constant illness but the need for follow-up scans, medical appointments, and the worry that comes with hearing you have a liver mass, even when it is benign. That uncertainty can affect the people around you too, especially family members who may feel anxious or protective, but clear information and regular medical follow-up often help everyone feel more grounded.
Treatment and drugs
Liver fibroma is usually treated based on its size, where it sits in the liver, and whether it is causing problems in daily life, such as ongoing belly discomfort, early fullness after meals, or pressure under the ribs. Many people with liver fibroma do not need immediate treatment if the growth is small and not causing symptoms, and doctors may simply monitor it with follow-up scans over time. If liver fibroma is large, painful, growing, or hard to tell apart from another liver mass, surgery to remove it may be recommended. Not every treatment works the same way for every person, and there is no standard medicine proven to shrink a liver fibroma, so care usually focuses on monitoring, symptom relief, and deciding whether an operation is the safest option.
Can you cure Liver fibroma?
Yes, a liver fibroma can often be cured if it is fully removed, since it is usually a noncancerous growth. If it is small and not causing problems, many people do not need treatment right away and doctors may simply monitor it with checkups and scans.
Non-drug treatment
Many living with liver fibroma do not need medicine, and some may not need active treatment right away. Care usually depends on whether the growth is causing pain, pressure, or uncertainty about what it is on scans. Not every approach works the same way, but when people ask about treatment for liver fibroma without surgery, the most common answer is careful monitoring if the lump looks harmless and is not causing problems.
If a liver fibroma is small and not causing symptoms, doctors may recommend watchful waiting instead of immediate treatment. This usually means repeat checkups and scans over time to make sure the growth is staying stable.
Ultrasound, CT, or MRI can help track the size and appearance of a liver fibroma without any incision. For many, treatment begins not at the pharmacy, but with scheduled imaging that helps the care team decide whether it is safe to keep observing.
An operation may be advised if the liver fibroma is large, causing discomfort, pressing on nearby structures, or if the diagnosis is still unclear. Surgery can also be the best option when doctors need to rule out a different kind of liver mass.
Care from a liver specialist and surgeon can help people with liver fibroma understand whether monitoring or surgery makes more sense for their situation. If one method doesn’t help, there are usually other options for symptom relief and follow-up planning.
Your genes may have an impact on how drugs work for you
Liver fibroma itself is not usually treated with long-term medicine, so inherited gene differences do not play a big role in day-to-day treatment for most people living with this condition. If the growth needs surgery or a procedure, though, natural differences in your genes can sometimes affect how your body handles certain pain medicines or anesthesia, meaning some people may need a different dose or closer watching. This kind of gene-based drug matching is not a routine part of care for liver fibroma, but it may matter in special situations.
Pharmacological treatments
For many people living with liver fibroma, medicine is not the main treatment because this growth is usually managed with monitoring or, in some cases, a procedure if it causes problems. There is no standard drug that shrinks or cures a liver fibroma itself. Drug treatments are mainly used to ease symptoms such as pain, nausea, or discomfort, or to support care around surgery. If you are wondering about the best treatment for liver fibroma, the answer often depends on size, symptoms, and whether the diagnosis is fully certain.
There is no approved medicine that directly treats or removes a liver fibroma. If the growth is small and not causing symptoms, doctors often recommend follow-up imaging rather than medication.
If liver fibroma causes belly discomfort or pressure, doctors may suggest pain medicines such as acetaminophen or, in some cases, other short-term pain relievers. The choice depends on your liver health, other medical conditions, and how strong the pain is.
Some people with liver fibroma may feel sick to their stomach, especially if the mass is large enough to press on nearby structures. Medicines such as ondansetron or metoclopramide may be used to ease nausea, but they do not treat the fibroma itself.
If an operation is needed, medicines may be given before and after the procedure for pain control, nausea prevention, and infection prevention. Sometimes medicines are taken short-term, while the main treatment is still the procedure itself.
Genetic influences
Most cases of liver fibroma are not thought to be strongly inherited, and many seem to happen without a clear family pattern. It’s natural to ask whether family history plays a role. Right now, there is no well-established single gene known to cause most liver fibroma cases, so genetic causes of liver fibroma are usually considered uncertain rather than proven. For many living with liver fibroma, this means a relative having the same growth would be unusual, though doctors may look more closely if several family members have had rare tumors or other unusual growths. In that setting, inherited conditions that increase the chance of certain tumors may be considered, but this is not the typical explanation for an isolated liver fibroma. If questions about family history come up, a genetics specialist can help sort out whether testing is likely to be useful.
Is Liver fibroma genetic?
Genetics are not thought to play a major role in most liver fibroma cases, and these growths are usually not inherited. Rarely, liver fibroma may appear alongside broader genetic conditions, so family history can still matter in some people.
Having a genetic risk is not necessarily a diagnosis
Genetic variants are a usual part of human biology and are widespread in the general population. Most of these variants do not directly affect health and are simply part of normal human diversity. For many genes, having a variant associated with a condition suggests a possible link rather than a definite diagnosis, especially when several genes and environmental factors are involved. In some situations, though, a single well-characterized variant in a particular gene is enough to confirm a diagnosis.
Pharmacogenetics—how genetics influence drug effects
For many people living with liver fibroma, treatment decisions are guided more by symptoms, scan results, and where the growth sits in the liver than by a genetic test. In most cases, there is no standard gene-based drug treatment for liver fibroma, and many are simply monitored over time or removed with surgery if they are causing problems or if the diagnosis is uncertain. Sometimes genetics matter indirectly: if doctors are trying to tell a liver fibroma apart from another liver tumor, genetic testing on tumor tissue may help clarify the diagnosis, which can change the treatment plan.
Genetics is only one factor, and for liver fibroma there is not yet a routine pharmacogenetic test that tells doctors which medicine will work best. Still, because the liver helps break down many drugs, inherited differences in how your body handles pain medicines, anesthesia, or other treatments may affect dosing and side effects if a procedure is needed.
Interactions with other conditions
Many living with liver fibroma have no day-to-day problems at all, but if the growth is large, it can add to symptoms caused by other liver or digestive conditions, such as abdominal fullness, discomfort, or feeling full quickly after eating. Another important aspect is how it may link with other diseases. Liver fibroma can sometimes be mistaken for other liver masses on scans, including cysts, noncancerous growths, or liver cancer, so doctors usually look at the whole picture rather than one image alone. If someone already has chronic liver disease, a liver fibroma may make it harder to sort out which condition is causing pain, pressure, or abnormal test results. In rare cases, a bigger liver fibroma can press on nearby structures, which may worsen problems related to bile flow or blood flow in the liver. Because the early symptoms of liver fibroma can overlap with more common liver disorders, follow-up with a liver specialist is often the safest way to rule out other diseases and decide whether treatment is needed.
How genes can cause diseases
Humans have more than 20,000 genes, each carrying out one or a few specific functions in the body. One gene instructs the body to digest lactose from milk, another tells the body how to build strong bones and another prevents the body's cells from beginning to multiply uncontrollably and developing into cancer. As all of these genes combined are the building instructions for our body, a defect in one of these genes can have severe health consequences.
Through decades of genetic research, we know the genetic code of any healthy/functional human gene. We have also identified that in certain positions on a gene, some individuals may have a different genetic letter from the one you have. We call these hotspots "Genetic Variations" or "Variants" in short. In many cases, studies have been able to show that having the genetic letter "G" in the position makes you healthy, but having the letter "A" in the same position disrupts the gene function and causes a disease. Genopedia allows you to view these variants in genes and summarizes all that we know from scientific research, which genetic letters (Genotype) have good or bad consequences on your health or on your traits.
What other conditions can cause similar symptoms to Liver fibroma?
Other liver growths can look a lot like a liver fibroma, especially harmless blood-vessel growths called hemangiomas, fluid-filled liver cysts, and other noncancerous lumps such as focal nodular hyperplasia or liver adenoma. Scar tissue in the liver and fatty liver disease can also cause belly discomfort, fullness, or changes on a scan that seem similar. Because symptoms are often vague, doctors may also need to rule out liver cancer or cancer that has spread to the liver when the picture is not clear.
History
Throughout history, solid growths in the liver were usually described by what doctors could see during surgery or at autopsy, not by their exact type. That meant liver fibroma, a rare noncancerous growth made mostly of fibrous tissue, was not clearly separated from other liver masses in many older reports. For families, this could mean long stretches of uncertainty, especially when someone felt well but was told a scan had found an unexpected lump.
As medical science evolved, doctors became better at telling one liver growth from another by looking closely at the tissue under a microscope. Early reports often grouped liver fibroma with other benign liver tumors or scar-like lesions because they can look similar at first glance. Over time, descriptions became more precise, and pathologists learned which features pointed to a true fibroma rather than a cancer or another harmless mass.
The history of liver fibroma also reflects a broader change in medicine: many liver lesions that once came to attention only after symptoms are now found during imaging for something else, such as stomach pain, gallbladder problems, or a routine check after an injury. For many living with liver fibroma, this matters because the story often begins with an incidental finding rather than obvious illness. That is one reason older medical literature contains fewer clear cases than modern practice does.
In recent decades, imaging tests such as ultrasound, CT, and MRI have helped doctors recognize liver masses earlier, although these scans still cannot always confirm liver fibroma on their own. In some cases, the diagnosis has only become clear after biopsy or surgery. Not every early description was complete, yet together they built the foundation of today’s knowledge, including the understanding that early symptoms of liver fibroma are often absent or nonspecific when symptoms happen at all.
Researchers have also learned that liver fibroma can appear in different age groups, but it remains uncommon, so much of its history comes from individual case reports rather than large studies. Knowing this history helps explain why diagnosis can still take time today: liver fibroma is rare, it may cause few day-to-day problems, and it can resemble other liver conditions until the tissue is examined more closely.