This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages without signing in

Primary sclerosing cholangitis

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Primary sclerosing cholangitis is a rare disease of unknown aetiology characterised by chronic inflammation and fibrosis of the bile duct.

Narrowing of the bile duct lumen usually occurs throughout the biliary tree. Less commonly, changes are confined to the intra-hepatic or extra-hepatic ducts but is seldom short enough to resemble a post-traumatic or focal malignant stricture.

  • there is a strong association with inflammatory bowel disease (75 per cent of cases), particularly ulcerative colitis but also Crohn’s disease
  • in addition to complications related to end-stage liver disease, patients may develop a number of other complications e.g. biliary strictures, infective cholangitis, cholangiocarcinoma
  • majority of patients will be asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis, although they may have advanced disease

The diagnosis of primary sclerosing cholangitis should be suspected in a patient with ulcerative colitis who has abnormal LFTs, especially a raised alkaline phosphatase

  • pruritus and fatigue are early symptoms - patients may also present with fevers, night sweats and right upper quadrant pain (1)

Reference:

  1. Prescriber 2003; 14(23):20-9.

Create an account to add page annotations

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.