Primary biliary cirrhosis is infrequently diagnosed in men, so that the clinical, biochemical and histopathological spectrum of this disease in men has not been evaluated. Therefore, we studied 30 men who had a histological diagnosis of primary biliary cirrhosis and had positive tests for antimitochondrial antibodies. Five patients had no hepatobiliary symptoms, and two of these patients had neither biochemical nor histological evidence of cholestasis. These 30 male patients' findings were compared with the findings in 30 age-matched women who also had primary biliary cirrhosis and antimitochondrial antibodies. Six of these patients were asymptomatic. Clinical findings and symptomatic status, in addition to biochemical and histopathological features, were generally similar in both male and female patients. The possible significance of higher serum alkaline phosphatase activities and lower frequency of occurrence of piecemeal necrosis in men with primary biliary cirrhosis, as compared with women, requires further study.
Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a disease that affects women far more frequently than men. In surveys of large numbers of patients, women have exceeded men by a factor of 6 to 10 or more (1-5). However, despite this striking disparity, no effort has been made to determine whether there are clinical, biochemical or histopathological differences between men and women with the dis- ease. In part, this is due to the fact that the number of men with PBC in each of the series has been too few to permit adequate analysis and comparison.
The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) receives a wide variety of problematic cases for consultation. Included among these, over the years, has been a large number of men with PBC. This has permitted us to examine the collective data from these individuals and