[What is the onset of primary biliary liver cirrhosis?].

The medical records of 49 consecutive patients with primary biliary cirrhosis of the liver were screened for informations about medical examinations during the years before the diagnosis was established. In 15 cases previous medical reports could be found. Evidence of liver disease (slight elevation of transaminases and gamma-GT) was documented up to 18 years before the diagnosis was proven. In 6 patients liver biopsies had been performed: normal 1 x, fatty liver 1 x, fibrosis 1 x, non-specific hepatitis 1 x, chron. pers. Hep. 2 x. The characteristic increase of alkaline phosphatase often occurred within a few months. Antimitochondrial antibodies became positive independent of the beginning of cholestasis. It can be concluded that early stage primary biliary cirrhosis must be considered in patients with long standing slight elevation of liver enzymes even without cholestasis when other causes can be excluded.