 A biopsy is not necessary if the clinical, laboratory, and radiologic data suggests cirrhosis.Furthermore, there is a small but significant risk of complications from liver biopsy, and cirrhosis itself predisposes for complications caused by liver biopsy.The best predictors of cirrhosis are ascites, platelet count < 160,000/mm3, spider angiomata, and a Bonacini cirrhosis discriminant score greater than 7 (as the sum of scores for platelet count, ALT/AST ratio and INR as per table).