Liver Histology and Follow up Of68 Patients With
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468 Gut, 1990, 31, 468-472 Liver histology and follow up of 68 patients with ulcerative colitis and normal liver function tests Gut: first published as 10.1136/gut.31.4.468 on 1 April 1990. Downloaded from U Broome', H Glaumann, R Hultcrantz Abstract the colitis,4' but so far no such correlation has Hepatobiliary disorders are well known com- been found. plications in patients with ulcerative colitis but In 1966, primary sclerosing cholangitis was it is not possible to predict those patients with recognised in patients with ulcerative colitis.9 10 ulcerative colitis who will eventually devleop Initially, it was described as an unusual finding,8- liver disease. In this study, liver biopsies from 10 but with an increased awareness of the disease 74 patients with ulcerative colitis have been and with the availability of endoscopic retro- reevaluated. None of the patients showed grade cholangiography in addition to a possible clinical or biochemical signs of liver disease at absolute increase of the disease, primary scleros- the time of biopsy. Thirty seven (50%) had a ing cholangitis is today found in 2-4% of all completely normal liver biopsy. The others patients with ulcerative colitis." 12 Except for one showed minimal portal inflammation or fatty study by Perrett et al,3 who found minor histo- infiltration. The biopsies of three patients logical abnormalities in six of 13 patients with displayed concentric, periductular fibrosis, or ulcerative colitis without clinical or biochemical so called 'onion skin' lesions. None showed evidence of liver disease, little is known about other signs of fibrosis or cirrhosis. The histo- the incidence ofalterations in the liver in patients logical findings were unrelated to either with ulcerative colitis in general. Also, aetio- activity or extent ofcolitis, except for the onion logical factors leading to liver disease in patients skin lesions which were seen exclusively in with ulcerative colitis are not clarified. biopsies of patients with involvement of the In the present study liver biopsies from 74 total colon. Sixty eight of the 74 patients were patients suffering from ulcerative colitis with reviewed after a mean interval of 18 years. The normal liver function tests have been reexamined majority had no symptoms of hepatobiliary according to the new classification system ofliver disorders and only two had developed liver biopsies.'4 The patients were followed up in disease; one suffered from cryptogenic order to assess if patients with ulcerative colitis, http://gut.bmj.com/ cirrhosis, possibly due to non-A, non-B hepa- but lacking biochemical parameters of liver titis and the other of an autoimmune liver disease, run a lower risk of developing hepato- disease and later developed a bile duct car- biliary complications compared-with all patients cinoma. Both were women with total colonic with ulcerative colitis. We also wanted to estab- involvement. At the time of the first liver lish if any specific histological abnormality biopsy one showed no histological abnormali- would be of value in predicting the future risk ties and the other only minor fatty infiltration. that a patient with ulcerative colitis will develop on October 2, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. Thus, minor abnormalities in liver tissue are liver disease. common in patients with ulcerative colitis without biochemical evidence of liver disease. The morphological changes are oflittle help in Methods predicting the future risk of a patient with ulcerative colitis developing a clinically rele- PATI ENTS vant hepatobiliary complication. The absence Between 1958 and 1968, at St Erik's Hospital in of biochemical parameters for liver disease Stockholm, Sweden, liver biopsies as well as during the early years of ulcerative colitis biochemical liver function tests were routinely predict a favourable longterm diagnosis as performed on patients with ulcerative colitis. In regards hepatobiliary complications. 78 of the patients, the liver function was more extensively examined and was found to be com- pletely normal. Four of the patients later In 1874 Thomas' described an association developed Crohn's disease and were therefore between ulcerative colitis and liver disease. Since excluded from our present study. many reports have confirmed this 3 Clinical data were obtained from the hospital Departments ofMedicine then, finding2 U Broome and it is today considered a fact that the inci- records at the time of the biopsy. There were 34 R Hultcrantz dence of liver disease in patients with ulcerative men and 40 women. The mean age at onset of colitis is greater than in the general population.3 ulcerative colitis was 31 years (8-69). At this time Infectious Diseases, and Pathology, Huddinge The most common histological findings are fatty the Ethics committee system was not operating University Hospital and infiltration and portal inflammatory cell infil- in Sweden but as far as we know informed Roslagstull Hospital, trates consisting of collections of lymphocytes consent was not obtained. The diagnosis of Stockholm, Sweden H Glaumann and plasma cells. Often, but not always, these ulcerative colitis was based on the following are and a of diarrhoea and/or rectal Correspondence to: Ulrika cells concentrated around the bile ducts, criteria: history Broome, MD, Huddinge eventually hyaline fibrous tissue surrounding bleeding for six weeks or more; at least one University Hospital, S-141 86 the mucosa Huddinge, Sweden. bile ducts may develop.2-7 There have been sigmoidoscopy showing friability of Accepted for publication attempts to correlate the histological changes with contact bleeding and/or petechial haemor- 10 July 1989 seen in liver tissue to the severity and extent of rhages and/or ulceration with intervening inflam- Liverhistology andfollow up of68patients with ulcerative colitis and normal liverfunction tests 469 mation of the mucosa, and a barium enema with 100' radiological evidence of ulceration or narrowing or shortening of the colon; and characteristic microscopical changes in the biopsy.'5 80- The extent of the colitis was determined by a'c Gut: first published as 10.1136/gut.31.4.468 on 1 April 1990. Downloaded from sigmoidoscopy and barium enema. Thirty seven ._0 patients were found to have total involvement of 60- IRemission the colon, 28 left sided involvement and nine had proctitis. The inflammatory activity ofthe colitis E Active colitis 40- had been determined. Remission was defined as CL- a state in which the patient had no bowel 0 symptoms and the sigmoidoscopy showed no 20- activity. The colitis was defined as active when the sigmoidoscopy showed oedema, excess n I * I- -11 - a mucus, signs of bleeding and/or ulceration and . M-F7- () I .f the patient had symptoms of diarrhoea. Fifteen O ' + ++ I +++ ++++ patients were in remission, and in 59 patients the Degree of portal inflammation colitis was active. Two patients had been sub- Figure 1: Comparison between the degree ofportal inflammation in patients with active colitis and with colitis in jected to cholecystectomy, and one had pre- remission. viously suffered from hepatitis A. Three patients were classified as over consumers of alcohol while the others consumed no alcohol or only all had been autopsied. The time of death was small amounts at weekends. Sulphasalazine was then taken as the time of follow up. Among the taken by 21 of the patients, corticosteroids by 17 six patients whom it was not possible to follow and local corticosteroids by 27 patients. up, we know that two women died at the age of. Guanicil, a non-absorbable sulphonamide, was 92 and 80 respectively. The fate ofthe remaining taken by nine patients and 10 patients were four patients are unknown to us today (Table). taking no medicine at the time of the liver The mean time offollow up was 18 years (0-28). biopsy. Thus, because of the various medical treatments and the small group ofpatients, it was not meaningful to correlate the histological find- Results ings to the drugs taken. The liver function in all patients was evaluated LIVER BIOPSY INTERPRETATION by bilirubin, transaminases, alkaline phos- Among the 74 patients studied, 37 (50%) had a phatase, and Bromsulphalein retention tests. All completely normal initial liver biopsy. Twenty http://gut.bmj.com/ these tests were normal in all 74 patients. Liver three biopsies showed fatty infiltration, nine biopsy was performed on average seven years portal inflammation, and in five there were both after the onset of the ulcerative colitis. The fatty infiltration and portal inflammation. Three percutaneous technique was used and each displayed fatty infiltration sufficient to make the biopsy stained with haematoxylin-eosin and van diagnosis of fatty liver (more than 50% of the Gieson. The biopsies were reevaluated by one hepatocytes involved). One of these three liver pathologist and one hepatologist according patients was in clinical remission, whereas two on October 2, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. to the classification system of liver diseases'4 and suffered from active colitis. In the liver biopsy without knowing the patients identity. Special from one patient in remission more extensive emphasis was placed on alterations in the portal portal inflammation was seen. tracts such as inflammation and fibrosis. Hepato- The quantitative data regarding portal inflam- cellular degeneration and fatty infiltration were mation and lobular changes in relation to the also carefully assessed. Portal inflammation and inflammatory activity of the colitis are given in fatty infiltration were subjectively quantified on Figures 1 and 2, respectively, where it can be an arbitary scale from 0 to + + + +. seen that there was no correlation between the Through The National Population Registry it was possible to trace 68 patients. The time of 100, follow up was taken for 60 patients as the last recorded hospital visit when a clinical examina- tion was carried out with measurements of * 80 transaminases, alkaline phosphatase and bili- 0. rubin. Biochemical data of the liver function [jI Remission7 .