[Medical treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis].

The medical treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis can be divided into two parts: the treatment of the complications (cholestasis and portal hypertension) and the treatment of the underlying disease. As regards the treatment of the disease itself, there is to date no drug which has been shown to ameliorate the pathological process and to prolong survival: cyclosporine and ursodeoxycholic acid, recently used have shown promising responses in liver biochemistry but long-term controlled studies are required to assess their effectiveness on the disease process and on survival.