• Nobuhide Oshitani, Masaki Iimuro, Daichi Kawashima, Makoto Inagawa, Mitsue Sogawa, Yoshio Jinno, Hirokazu Yamagami, Naoko Hamasaki, Yoshinori Sawa, Jyunichi Hara, Shiro Nakamura, Takayuki Matsumoto, Shuichi Seki, Tetsuo Arakawa, Atsuo Kitano, and Tetsuo Kuroki.
• Third Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka City University Medical School, 1-4-3, Asahi-machi, Abeno-ku, Osaka 545-8585, Japan.
• Hepato Gastroenterol. 2002 Mar 1; 49 (44): 317-21.

Background/AimsPrimary sclerosing cholangitis is often accompanied by inflammatory bowel disease in western countries. However, the incidence of primary sclerosing cholangitis in patients with ulcerative colitis appears to be much lower in Japan.MethodologyBetween 1980 and 1998, a total of 402 patients with ulcerative colitis were seen in our department. The patients were evaluated by abdominal ultrasonography, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, and/or magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography when persisting abnormalities of biochemical findings suggested the presence of hepatobiliary diseases.ResultsOf the 402 patients with ulcerative colitis, 3 patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis were found. There were 2 men and 1 woman. One patient had left-sided colitis while 2 had total colitis. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography was done in 2 of these 3 patients and demonstrated diagnostic features of primary sclerosing cholangitis. All 3 patients had intra- and extrahepatic involvement by primary sclerosing cholangitis. One male patient died due to progressive hepatic failure. The other male patient was treated with ursodeoxycholic acid, but serum alkaline phosphatase level remained above the normal range. The female patient maintained normal serum alkaline phosphatase levels without specific medication.ConclusionsMagnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography is the most safe and convincing tool for the diagnosis of coexistent primary sclerosing cholangitis in the patients with ulcerative colitis.

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