[Sclerosing cholangitis and ulcerative colitis. Regional prevalence]

The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) in a regional population of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Three hundred and five patients with UC followed over a 12 year period were examined for elevations of serum alkaline phosphatase (> 280 U/l). Twenty four such patients were found. If no cause of these elevations were found by initial investigations, endoscopic retrograde cholangiography was performed in order to determine whether they had PSC. Eleven patients were found to have PSC (3.6%), of whom five had progressive disease, including two deaths from cholangio-carcinoma, during a six-year observation period. We found no certain relation between the extent, duration or activity of ulcerative colitis and the presence of PSC. Alkaline phosphatases were elevated up to 3.7 times the upper reference level, the aminotransferases were only found to be mildly elevated.