Primary biliary cirrhosis with features of autoimmune hepatitis.
The diagnosis of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is made via a composite of clinical, laboratory, serologic, and histologic assessments, but within each parameter there exists a wide spectrum, so that the features of PBC are not always uniform. PBC is just one of several liver diseases thought to have an autoimmune basis. Therefore, it is not surprising, given the complexity of the immune response, that some patients thought to have PBC may have features of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). Whether such patients have PBC with features of AIH, or antimitochondrial antibody-negative PBC, or another disease altogether, remains unclear.
Heathcote
J
J
University of Toronto, Toronto Hospital Western Division, Suite 1070, 6B Fell, 399 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2S8, Canada. jennyheathcote@earthlink.net
D002761:Cholangitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D019693:Hepatitis, Autoimmune / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008105:Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology