ULCERATIVE-COLITIS AND PERSISTENT LIVER DYSFUNCTION

  • 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 52  (208) , 503-513
Abstract
Patients (681) with ulcerative colitis who attend an outpatient clinic were screened for the presence of persistently abnormal liver function tests. Of the 21 patients (3.0%) found with abnormal liver function, 17 (2.4%) were shown by cholangiography to have primary sclerosing cholangitis. The liver biopsies from those patients demonstrated a wide range of histological features and were diagnostic of primary sclerosing cholangitis is only 50% of the patients. When persistently abnormal liver function tests are demonstrated in patients with ulcerative colitis it is likely that primary sclerosing cholangitis will be present (81% of patients in this study), and to make a reliable diagnosis it is necessary to perform cholangiography in addition to liver biopsy. A close association with primary sclerosing cholangitis and histocompatibility antigens HLA B8 and DR3 is also reported.