Preventative care in cholestatic liver disease: Pearls for the specialist and subspecialist

Abstract

Cholestatic liver diseases (CLDs) encompass a variety of disorders of abnormal bile formation and/or flow. CLDs often lead to progressive hepatic insult and injury and following the development of cirrhosis and associated complications. Many such complications are clinically silent until they manifest with severe sequelae, including but not limited to life-altering symptoms, metabolic disturbances, cirrhosis, and hepatobiliary diseases as well as other malignancies. Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) are the most common CLDs, and both relate to mutual as well as unique complications. This review provides an overview of PSC and PBC, with a focus on preventive measures aimed to reduce the incidence and severity of disease-related complications. Keywords: Biliary tract diseases, Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), Cirrhosis, Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Metabolic bone disease, Pruritus, Prophylaxis