Cholestasis and Pruritus: Progressive Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis?

Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) has a significant place among the childhood cholestasis. It is the second most frequent liver transplant indication met in some liver transplant institutions. It constitutes approximately 10-15% of all cases of cholestasis and liver transplant. PFIC is an autosomal recessively inherited disorder and causes hepatocellular-originated cholestasis. In the period from infancy to adulthood it may cause death due to liver failure. PFIC has three types and the most frequently observed clinical symptoms of all three types are; pruritus, hepatitis, growth retardation, hepatomegaly, and splenomegaly. The prognosis of these three types of PFIC is different. The complications of PFIC are; portal hypertension, liver failure, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and extrahepatic symptoms. Although medical and surgical treatments are applied in order to improve the patients' life quality, most of the cases require liver transplantation in the early stage.