The Predictive Value of Antimitochondrial Antibodies in Establishing the Diagnosis of Primary Biliary Cirrhosis

Abstract
Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) was diagnosed in 85% of patients with anti-mitochondrial antibodies (AMA) found in sera routinely analyzed for autoantibodies. In these patients and in those without PBC other autoimmune disorders were common, but the latter patients generally had a low AMA titer, 1:80 or less. It was concluded that a low AMA titer may occur in many patients without PBC. On the other hand, it appears very likely that PBC is present in patients with an AMA titer exceeding 1:80 and an increased activity of alkaline phosphatases without signs of extrahepatic biliary obstruction.