Hepatobiliary system in sickle cell disease

This paper reviews the literature reports concerning sickle cell disease and the hepatobiliary system. Sickle cell disease can cause progressive injury to the liver with significant fibrosis, often cirrhosis, and decreased liver function by adulthood. Asymptomatic patients commonly have hepatomegaly and elevated liver enzyme levels. The presence of sickle cell disease obscures features otherwise useful in differential diagnosis. Acute episodes of the disease selectively affect the liver in 10% of patients, causing hepatic crisis with abdominal pain, nausea, fever, jaundice, and transaminase elevation. Viral hepatitis is often clinically indistinguishable from hepatic crisis, but in viral hepatitis the abdominal pain is usually less, the jaundice tends to be more severe, and the transaminase elevation more prolonged. The two can be distinguished by serology and liver biopsy. Furthermore, acute cholecystitis or choledocholithiasis may have clinical and laboratory features similar to sickle cell hepatic crisis or viral hepatitis. By adulthood, 50%-70% of sickle cell patients have gallstones. Elective cholecystectomy is indicated for those who are symptomatic, but, because of operative mortality, there is disagreement concerning surgery for asymptomatic patients. The literature contains nine well-documented cases of acute hepatic failure related to sickle cell disease. The mechanism is unclear; however, as the necrosis is often not severe, a metabolic problem is suggested.