Factors of prognostic importance in primary biliary cirrhosis.

To determine survival and the risk factors of death in primary biliary cirrhosis, data from 52 symptomatic and 13 asymptomatic patients were analyzed. The mean follow-up time was 6.3 years (range, 0.4-23 years). The average length of survival was 18 years for the symptomatic and 8.4 years for the asymptomatic patients. By a univariate analysis, ascites, presence of esophageal varices, gastrointestinal bleeding, jaundice, hepatomegaly and the logarithms of albumin and bilirubin were all associated with a poor prognosis. A multivariate analysis of the clinical features showed that the presence of bleeding from esophageal varices and the logarithm of bilirubin were the only predictors for poor prognosis. The survival of the symptomatic patients is longer than reported previously, while the life expectancy for the asymptomatic patients seems no better than for the symptomatic group.