Bililary Cirrosus

[txpartner]

Hubby never achieved SVR.  1a.  High viral count.  Now he has horrible diarrhea, higher ALT, AST than ever, enharged and painful liver and pancreas. Tests continue, CAT scan Friday, MORE blood work, etc.  Saw an article that in some cases inteferon can kick off a problem for bile ducts.  Anyone out there have information?  Links?

[txpartner]

Hubby's labs look almost exactly like the Italian case study in your post.  Still collecting data here.  He glows in the dark from all the labs.  Had a clear CAT scan this week, but c919 or c119 i forget, (and i'm not the one with the brain fog), are high...marker for some kind of GI cancer.  I think this is worse than we first believed.  The documentation I have heard indicates he has most of the symptoms of PBC, so maybe that is kicking the c919 out of whack.  More blood today and turned in a 72 hour fecal fat...collect all that poo for 3 days and see how that smells...ewwww. He continues to be active in the mornings, but naps or lays down all afternoon, evening, then early to bed.  Sad.  He is less itchy this week and less cranky, is finally able to read some.  Thank goodness we are having a good week. We need a good week before the docs call with whatever dread news is on the horizon.  If anyone has similar experience after tx, we'd like to hear, especially if this ever resolves in some positive way.  Thanks all.

[jonihs]

There is a  really good anti-diarreal. But they don't like to give it because it has opium in it.   A they can give. they gave it to my mom-in-law during chemo. ask for it.    Joni

[willing]

sorry things are so hard for the two of you right now. Hopefully your new GI can come up with a diagnosis fairly quickly. Has he tried something to reduce the diarrhea? I just put up with mine because it's sporadic,  but I believe it shouldn't be too hard to control.

[txpartner]

appreciate attention to our post.  this has been/is a rough ride.  for him to go through so much, terrible tx sx, no svr, now this.  thx for support and articles.

[BobK]

abstract for #2 reference in previous post.  Not knowing the reasons why you suspect a problem with husbands bile ducts all this should be considerd food for thought and speculation.

regards,
BobK


Dig Dis Sci. 1995 Oct;40(10):2113-6. Related Articles, Links

    Primary biliary cirrhosis induced by interferon-alpha therapy for hepatitis C virus infection.

    D'Amico E, Paroli M, Fratelli V, Palazzi C, Barnaba V, Callea F, Consoli G.

    Ospedale di Pescara, Divisione di Reumatologia, Italy.

Interferon-alpha is known to exacerbate and in some cases induce a variety of autoimmune disorders. In this report we describe the onset of primary biliary cirrhosis in a 55-year-old woman without evidence of preexisting autoimmune diseases receiving recombinant interferon-alpha 2a for chronic active hepatitis C. Shortly after discontinuing interferon therapy, alkaline phosphatase levels started to rise up to three times the normal range. Anti-mitochondrial antibodies were found to be positive at a high titer, and liver biopsy showed a picture of chronic active hepatitis along with primary biliary cirrhosis features (overlap syndrome). Primary biliary cirrhosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis in any patient treated with interferon-alpha with unexplained elevation of serum alkaline phosphatase.

[BobK]

Go to ScienceDirect

[BobK]

This may help you with some info.  What might help more is to peruse the attached references.  If you spot some you like and can't access them tell us and someone will grab the abstracts for you.

regards,
BobK



1) Primary biliary cirrhosis and hepatitis C virus infection,
The American Journal of Gastroenterology, Volume 98, Issue 12, Pages 2757-2762 (December 2003)
Annarosa Floreani, Anna Baragiotta, Maria Grazia Leone, Vincenzo Baldo and Remo Naccarato
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=GatewayURL&_method=citationSearch&_uoikey=B6VHV-4B70CSK-1B&_origin=EMFR&_version=1&md5=da02c1d48682ace7fe6f62fb84b663f0

[imkindly]

Hi txpartner

I don't have any info on treatment causing biliary problems....
but I wanted to give you some info that might be useful to you---

Reduction of bile flow is called "cholestasis".
(It can occur in the liver (intrahepatic cholestasis)......or in the main bile ducts (extrahepatic cholestasis)

Many things are capable of causing cholestasis----some examples are: reactions to certain drugs, immune disorders (primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, etc), gallbladder problems, pancreatitis, etc.)

Usually a person with cholestasis will have an elevated Alkaline Phosphatase level. Check your husband's bloodtests.

If you need more info on any of this, let me know.