[Secondary cholangitis of the critically ill]

Abstract

Sclerosing Cholangitis of the Critically Ill (SC-CIP) is a relatively new entity within the spectrum of secondary cholangitis that develops in the wake of intensive care therapy with mechanical ventilation and catecholamine treatment. It is caused by ischemic or immunologic injury to small bile ducts that becomes self-aggravating and persists beyond the end of the intensive care stay. Early clinical and laboratory findings show acute cholangitis with elevated CRP, gamma GT, AP, and bilirubin. ERCP shows damaged intrahepatic bile ducts with irregular calibers and biliary casts. The following phase is chronic and oligosymptomatic. Still, all laboratory parameters will stay mildly elevated and ERCP and MRCP will show progressive loss of small bile ducts. Long-term prognosis is poor. Even with UDCA therapy, most patients will develop liver cirrhosis within months or years.