Cholangitis: Diagnosis, treatment and prognosis

Abstract

Cholangitis is a serious life-threatening situation affecting the hepatobiliary system. This review provides an update regard-ing the clinical and pathological features of various forms of cholangitis. A comprehensive search was performed in the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Knowledge databases. It was found that the etiology and pathogenesis of cholangitis are heterogeneous. Cholangitis can be categorized as primary sclerosing (PSC), secondary (acute) cholangitis, and a re-cently characterized form, known as IgG4-associated chol-angitis (IAC). Roles of genetic and acquired factors have been noted in development of various forms of cholangitis. PSC commonly follows a chronic and progressive course that may terminate in hepatobiliary neoplasms. In particular, PSC commonly has been associated with inflammatory bowel disease. Bacterial infections are known as the most common cause for AC. On the other hand, IAC has been commonly encountered along with pancreatitis. Imaging evaluation of the hepatobiliary system has emerged as a crucial tool in the management of cholangitis. Endoscopic retrograde cholan-giography, magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic ultrasonography comprise three of the mo-dalities that are frequently exploited as both diagnostic and therapeutic tools. Biliary drainage procedures using these methods is necessary for controlling the progression of cholangitis. Promising results have been reported for the role of antibiotic treatment in management of AC and PSC; however, immunosuppressive drugs have also rendered clinical responses in IAC. With respect to the high rate of complications, surgical interventions in patients with cholan-gitis are generally restricted to those patients in whom other therapeutic approaches have failed.