Updated Guidance on Diagnosis and Treatment of Primary Biliary Cholangitis

Recommendations reflect decreased reliance on liver biopsy for diagnosis and increased therapeutic options for nonresponders to ursodeoxycholic acid.

Sponsoring Organization: The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD)

Background and Objective

This practice guidance updates the AASLD guideline on primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) published in 2009 and is based on expert consensus and formal review and analysis of published literature.

What's Changed

Information about obeticholic acid (OCA) is incorporated. Because AASLD has switched to a guidance (vs. guideline) format, the quality of evidence and the strength of guidance statements are not rated.

Key Recommendations

Diagnosis

For PBC diagnosis, two of these three criteria need to be met: 1) cholestatic pattern of liver enzyme elevation (mainly alkaline phosphatase); 2) presence of antimitochondrial antibody (AMA) or other …

Reviewing Author

Atif Zaman, MD, MPH

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose