Clinical features of primary biliary cirrhosis: a clinical analysis of 70 cases

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical features of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 70 inpatients diagnosed with PBC from January 2008 to March 2013. The initial symptoms, liver function, and antimitochondrial antibody (AMA) subtypes (M2, M4, and M9) of patients, as well as the pathological results of 3 cases, were recorded. The increases in alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine phosphatase (ALP), and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) were analyzed by Wilcoxon rank sum test. ResultsOf all patients, 84.3% were females; the mean age was 59.2±8.7 years. The main clinical manifestations included weakness (25.7%), itching (24.3%), discomfort in the upper right abdominal quadrant (18.6%), and abdominal distension (18.6%). Abnormal liver function was mainly characterized by significant increases in GGT (324.5±250.4 U/L) and ALP(381.1±259.0 U/L). The number of patients with more than 5-fold increase in GGT was significantly higher than the numbers of patients with more than 5-fold increases in ALT, AST, and ALP (u=-5.861, P=0000; u=-4.036, P=0.000; u=-4.445, P=0.000). The numbers of patients with more than 2-fold increases in AST and ALP were significantly higher than the number of patients with more than 2-fold increase in ALT (u=-4.405, P=0.000; u=-3.625, P=0.000). Among all patients, 87.1% were positive for antimitochondrial M2 antibody (AM2A), 31.4% were positive for AM4A, and 114% were positive for AM9A. ConclusionPBC, more common in females, is the chronic liver damage characterized by significant increases in GGT and ALP. Detection of AMA subtypes (M2, M4and M9) is valuable for confirming the diagnosis of PBC