Guest guest Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 Hello In the winter/spring of 2007 it was discovered that I had elevated liver enzymes/lab tests. A following MRCP showed narrowing of some bile ducts. I was told that I most likely had PSC. This came as shock to me, and I've been thinking a lot about it. I do not have UC/Chrons. Anyway, in the fall 2007 my lab tests had returned to normal, they were actually in the lower part of normal. All I had done was to eat less junk food, excercise more and lost about 12 pounds of weight. The tests remained normal for the rest of the fall. In january this year I had a liver biopsy done, the results showed nothing. Everything looked normal except for some minor accumulation of iron. Again the blood tests were normal except for elevated ferritin. Is it possible to have PSC, and not havin it proved by biopsy? I've been sent to another hspital, and they'll probably do an ERCP, which I'm a little scared of after reading stories on the net about possible side effects. Could the MRCP have been distorted? It's kind of frustrating. Although it's good news that there's nothing wrong with the liver or bile ducts in the areas that the MRCP showed narrowing I don't want to get my hopes up to soon. Has anybody had similar experiences? Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 Yes, very similar thing happened with . Bloodwork from a physical showed elevated alkaline phos....whatever that is, but nothing else. Months later he had bouts of what we know now to be cholangitis. They didn't find anything from a liver biopsy, but the ERCP showed extensive narrowing and areas of dilation in the ducts. He went on the ursodiol and had no symptoms for almost 8 years. He's had cholangitis about once a year for the past 4 years; they go in and do an ERCP to clean everything out and then he's almost symptom free for another year. This last ERCP they found cancer in it's very earliest stage which has been an adventure, but he will live through it and should be fine. The fact that the liver biopsy showed nothing is good. It would seem that they found your psc early. My advice would be to take the ursodiol and stay in good shape; live well. Enjoy good labs. It could be years and years and years before you have to deal with anything radically unpleasant. By then, they will be growing livers in a petri dish and all of us that have had to wait for someone else's untimely demise in order to live will be wildly envious, but grateful for the miraculous advances in medicine. Franson, Wife of (psc 1994, CCa 2007) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 My transplant hep told me is more unusual to have a liver biopsy show PSC than for it not to show it. The area the tissue was taken from is pretty random so it does not always show up. an ERCP or MRCP is a better diagnostic tool. PSC5/07 Listed > > Hello > > In the winter/spring of 2007 it was discovered that I had elevated > liver enzymes/lab tests. A following MRCP showed narrowing of some > bile ducts. I was told that I most likely had PSC. This came as shock > to me, and I've been thinking a lot about it. I do not have > UC/Chrons. > > Anyway, in the fall 2007 my lab tests had returned to normal, they > were actually in the lower part of normal. All I had done was to eat > less junk food, excercise more and lost about 12 pounds of weight. > The tests remained normal for the rest of the fall. > > In january this year I had a liver biopsy done, the results showed > nothing. Everything looked normal except for some minor accumulation > of iron. Again the blood tests were normal except for elevated > ferritin. > > Is it possible to have PSC, and not havin it proved by biopsy? I've > been sent to another hspital, and they'll probably do an ERCP, which > I'm a little scared of after reading stories on the net about > possible side effects. > > Could the MRCP have been distorted? It's kind of frustrating. > Although it's good news that there's nothing wrong with the liver or > bile ducts in the areas that the MRCP showed narrowing I don't want > to get my hopes up to soon. > > Has anybody had similar experiences? > > Andy > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 My liver enzymes are sometimes normal too, I'm not sure why the fluctuate. Doctors for dx me with PBC but when a biopsy showed that there wasn't much wrong they did an MRCP to see if they could see anything because I still have pain. The MRCP showed extreme narrowing of the bile ducts and it looked like my common bile duct was very damaged. So I had an ERCP done which showed that the MRCP made things look a lot worse than they really were. I still have PSC which was proven by the ERCP but it's not as bad as the doctors suspected after I had my MRCP. PSC 8.07 PBC 10.06 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 That's the spirit I wish I had…. Chaim Boermeester From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of scottefranson Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2008 21:49 To: Subject: Re: What's going on? Yes, very similar thing happened with . Bloodwork from a physical showed elevated alkaline phos....whatever that is, but nothing else. Months later he had bouts of what we know now to be cholangitis. They didn't find anything from a liver biopsy, but the ERCP showed extensive narrowing and areas of dilation in the ducts. He went on the ursodiol and had no symptoms for almost 8 years. He's had cholangitis about once a year for the past 4 years; they go in and do an ERCP to clean everything out and then he's almost symptom free for another year. This last ERCP they found cancer in it's very earliest stage which has been an adventure, but he will live through it and should be fine. The fact that the liver biopsy showed nothing is good. It would seem that they found your psc early. My advice would be to take the ursodiol and stay in good shape; live well. Enjoy good labs. It could be years and years and years before you have to deal with anything radically unpleasant. By then, they will be growing livers in a petri dish and all of us that have had to wait for someone else's untimely demise in order to live will be wildly envious, but grateful for the miraculous advances in medicine. Franson, Wife of (psc 1994, CCa 2007) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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