Cholestatic pruritus: a retrospective analysis on clinical characteristics and treatment response. (29th November 2012)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Huesmann, Mario; Huesmann, Timo; Osada, Nani; Phan, Ngoc Quan; Kremer, Andreas E.; Ständer, Sonja
• Is Part Of: Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft. Volume 11:Number 2(2013)
• Page Start: 158
• Page End: 168
• Publication Date: 2012-11-29
• Subjects: Skin -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Dermatology -- Periodicals; 616.5005
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1610-0387.2012.08028.x
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1610-0379

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>Summary</title> <p> <bold>Background:</bold> Chronic cholestatic pruritus (ChP) is caused by various hepatobiliary disorders. This retrospective study describes the distribution of underlying diseases, clinical characteristics and treatment efficacy in a consecutive collective of patients with ChP.</p> <p> <bold>Patients and methods:</bold> Extensive data from 60 patients with ChP (30 women, 30 men; mean age: 58.0 ± 17.0 years) were retrospectively statistically analyzed concerning demographic data, pruritus characteristics, and response to therapy.</p> <p> <bold>Results:</bold> In this study population, 40.0% of the patients suffered from hepatitis B or C. Regarding the overall population, pruritus started in 50% of patients after diagnosis of the underlying hepatobiliary disorder. Only in patients with immune‐mediated liver diseases did pruritus more often occur before diagnosis (p &lt; 0.05). Only 23.3% of the patients reported an initial palmoplantar pruritus. Along with other drugs, anticonvulsants proved to be an effective treatment regime.</p> <p> <bold>Conclusions:</bold> In this study, viral pathogenesis was the most common cause of ChP. Other underlying diseases were represented to a lower extent in the total study population. Overall, the collected clinical parameters in each group were comparable. Thus, it was difficult to draw conclusions on the pathogenesis.</p> </abstract>