Background Secondary sclerosing cholangitis (SSC) is a rare disease with poor prognosis. Cases of SSC have been reported following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), COVID-SSC. Aims Aim of this study was to compare COVID-SSC to SSC in critically ill patients (SSC-CIP) and to assess factors influencing transplant-free survival. Methods In this retrospective, multicenter study involving 127 patients with SSC from 9 tertiary care centers in Germany, COVID-SSC was compared to SSC-CIP and logistic regression analyses were performed investigating factors impacting transplant-free survival. Results 24 patients had COVID-SSC, 77 patients SSC-CIP and 26 patients had other forms of SSC. COVID-SSC developed after a median of 91 days following COVID-19 diagnosis. All patients had received extensive intensive care treatment (median days of mechanical ventilation 48). Patients with COVID-SSC and SSC-CIP were comparable in most of the clinical parameters and transplant-free survival was not different from other forms of SSC (P = 0.443 in log-rank test). In the overall cohort, the use of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA, OR 0.36, 95%-CI 0.16-0.80, P = 0.013; P < 0.001 in log-rank test) and high serum albumin levels (OR 0.40, 95%-CI 0.17-0.96, P = 0.040) were independently associated with an increased transplant-free survival, while the presence of liver cirrhosis (OR 2.52, 95%-CI 1.01-6.25, P = 0.047) was associated with worse outcome. MDRO colonization or infection did not impact patients’ survival. Conclusions COVID-SSC and CIP-SSC share the same clinical phenotype, course of the disease and risk factors for its development. UDCA may be a promising therapeutic option in SSC, though future prospective trials need to confirm our findings.
Background: Non-anastomotic biliary strictures (NAS) are a common cause of morbidity and mortality after liver transplantation. Methods: All patients with NAS from 2008 to 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. The success rate and overall mortality of an ERCP-based stent program (EBSP) were the primary outcomes. Results: A total of 40 (13.9%) patients with NAS were identified, of which 35 patients were further treated in an EBSP. Furthermore, 16 (46%) patients terminated EBSP successfully, and nine (26%) patients died during the program. All deaths were caused by cholangitis. Of those, one (11%) patient had an extrahepatic stricture, while the other eight patients had either intrahepatic (3, 33%) or combined extra- and intrahepatic strictures (5, 56%). Risk factors of overall mortality were age (p = 0.03), bilirubin (p < 0.0001), alanine transaminase (p = 0.006), and aspartate transaminase (p = 0.0003). The median duration of the stent program was 34 months (ITBL: 36 months; IBL: 10 months), and procedural complications were rare. Conclusions: EBSP is safe, but lengthy and successful in only about half the patients. Intrahepatic strictures were associated with an increased risk of cholangitis.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.