Prevalence and factors associated with the presence of abnormal function liver tests in patients with ulcerative colitis

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the prevalence of abnormal function liver tests and risk factors associated with their development in Mexican patients with UC.

Methods: A total of 200 patients with confirmed diagnosis of UC were evaluated prospectively during a one year period from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2008.

Results: A total of 94 females and 106 males patients with UC were analyzed. The age at diagnosis was 31.4 ± 13.2 years and the mean of disease duration was 6.7 ± 5.2 years. We found a high prevalence of abnormal function livers tests in 40% of UC patients. The pattern of abnormal function liver test was hepatitis in 70%, cholestatic (20%) and mixed (10%). The most common cause of abnormal function liver test was transient elevation in 50 patients (63%) followed by fatty liver disease (11.2%), primary sclerosing cholangitis (6.3%), drug-toxicity (6%) and others (13.5%) including chronic hepatitis C, total parenteral nutrition, granulomatous and ischemic hepatitis. In the multivariate logistic regression model, active disease, colectomy and abdominal sepsis were factors that persisted associated with the development of abnormal liver tests in UC patients.

Conclusion: A high prevalence of abnormal function liver tests (40%) was found in Mexican UC patients is likely to be related to active disease, colectomy and the presence of sepsis.