Epidemiological and economical burden of cholestatic liver disease

Abstract

The main cholestatic liver diseases comprise primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), and IgG4-related cholangitis (IgG4-C). Despite being classified as rare diseases these are becoming gradually more important in the field of hepatology since their incidence is slowly rising while viral hepatitis burden is declining. Cholestatic liver diseases now rank among the three most frequent indications for liver transplantation in many Western countries. An accurate understanding of the epidemiology and burden of disease on both the individual and society of cholestatic diseases is of great importance. This review aims at providing a comprehensive overview of the current literature on the epidemiology, health related quality of life, and economical burden of PSC, PBC, and IgG4-C.