Journal of Clinical and Cellular Immunology
Open Access

Abstract

Coexistence of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Primary Biliary Cirrhosis

Toru Shizuma

Although autoimmune diseases often coexist, cases of concomitant systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) are rare. In this paper, 20 cases of concomitant SLE and PBC in the English and Japanese literature were reviewed and summarized. In concomitant cases of SLE and PBC, PBC was diagnosed first in 68.4% (13/19) of the cases and SLE occurred first in 31.6% (6/19) of the cases, although one case was suspected to have simultaneous onset. There may be no correlation between SLE activity and PBC development. In 20 reported cases of concomitant SLE and PBC, two elderly patients died because of liver failure as a result of worsening PBC, and hepatocellular carcinoma was detected in only one elderly patient.