Objective: To study the clinical, immunological and pathological features of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC).
Methods: Clinical and laboratory data of 153 patients with PBC treated in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Of these patients, 35 underwent hepatic biopsy.
Results: Typical manifestations such as itch of skin and hepatosplenomegaly etc. were found in only 39.2% to 46.4% of the patients and jaundice was seen in 84.3%. The serum level of SB was gradually increased while that of CHE decreased along with progression of PBC (P < 0.01). The level of serum Albumin and ALT was significantly lower in late stage than in the early stages (P < 0.05). ALT and CHE were not correlated with SB. AST level was markedly higher in the late stage than in the early stage (P < 0.05). The levels of ALP and GGT rose at the early stage but remarkably decreased at the middle stage (ALP, P < 0.05) and at the late stage (GGT, P < 0.01). The positive rate of AMA was 83.7% and that of M2 69.3%. As for the 35 patients receiving hepatic biopsy, 10 were AMA positive and the other 25 AMA negative.
Conclusion: More than half of the patients with PBC do not exhibit typical clinical symptoms and over 80% of the cases of PBC can be diagnosed by investigation of clinical features and detection of AMA and M2. For some cases that can not be definitely diagnosed by observation of clinical features, the final diagnosis should be determined by hepatic biopsy.