title: Mast cell cholangiopathy: another cause of sclerosing cholangitis.
abstract: A 75-year-old woman with known systemic mastocytosis presented with abdominal pain, ascites, and bile duct thickening on computed tomography and ultrasonography. A liver biopsy specimen showed infiltration with mast cells. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiography showed ductal changes compatible with those found in primary sclerosing cholangitis. Brush cytology of the intrahepatic bile ducts confirmed mast cell infiltration. Systemic mastocytosis can infiltrate the biliary system, producing a cholangiopathy radiographically similar to primary sclerosing cholangitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center, USA.
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Baron
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Koehler
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Rodgers
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Fallon
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ferguson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001649:Bile Duct Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D015209:Cholangitis, Sclerosing / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008415:Mastocytosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D011859:Radiography; D014463:Ultrasonography