Digestive Diseases and Sciences

, Volume 26, Issue 4, pp 372–375 | Cite as

Therapeutic quandary

Asymptomatic primary biliary cirrhosis associated with polymyositis
  • Richard A. Willson
Case Report
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:

Summary

This report describes a patient with asymptomatic primary biliary cirrhosis and polymyositis, an infrequent association. Unusual features of the case include the detection at cholecystectomy, when liver function tests were normal, and her subsequent two-year course during which she developed prominent features of polymyositis with evidence of circulating immue complexes. Only in the second year did the more typical biochemical findings of primary biliary cirrhosis evolve. In addition, the polymyositis may have been worsened by low-dose (250 mg/day) D-penicillamine therapy, suggesting that the role of this experimental treatment in asymptomatic primary biliary cirrhosis, when associated with connective tissue disorders, remains problematic.

Keywords

Public Health Connective Tissue Liver Function Experimental Treatment Liver Function Test 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Digestive Disease Systems, Inc 1981

Authors and Affiliations

  • Richard A. Willson
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of MedicineUniversity of WashingtonSeattle

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