The pancreatic ducts in primary biliary cirrhosis and sclerosing cholangitis

Endoscopic retrograde pancreatograms were examined in a consecutive series of patients with cholestatic disease caused either by primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) (35 patients) or by sclerosing cholangitis (SC) (38 patients). The pancreatic ducts were abnormal in three of the patients with PBC but in none with SC. Gallstone disease occurred concomitantly in the two patients with most advanced pancreatic involvement. The liver disease was classified as advanced PBC in 11 of the 35 patients. Symptoms of hepatobiliary disease were scarce in most SC patients. Eight of the 38 patients had histologically verified biliary cirrhosis. SC was associated with extensive, but most often inactive or mild, colitis in 97% (ulcerative colitis in 34 and Crohn's disease in 3 patients). Three of these patients had concomitant cholangiocarcinoma.