Primary biliary cirrhosis in an 85-year-old woman

Abstract

Primary biliary cirrhosis is a chronic cholestatic disease with a progressive course. Its etiology is thought to be due to a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental triggers. The characteristic serological hallmark of this disease is a highly disease-specific autoantibody, antimitochondrial antibody. The diagnosis of primary biliary cirrhosis should be suspected in the setting of chronic cholestasis after exclusion of other causes of liver diseases. The authors present the case of a 85-year-old woman, who was referred to the Internal Medicine Outpatient Department for study of an elevation on the alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyltransferase and a slight elevation of aminotransferases found on two routine laboratory evaluations.