METHOTREXATE AND LIVER BIOPSIES

- Speaking at the annual meeting of the British Association of Dermatologists, researchers from Manchester in the UK said that there may be no need for routine liver biopsies in patients receiving long-term methotrexate. The team carried out biopsies over 10 years on 49 patients receiving low-dose, once-weekly methotrexate for severe psoriasis. Deterioration was seen in nine patients, improvement in 12 and no change in 28. The researchers say that a single abnormal liver biopsy did not necessarily indicate that the disease would progress with continued treatment.