Case Report
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World J Gastroenterol. Apr 28, 2014; 20(16): 4811-4816
Published online Apr 28, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i16.4811
Overlap syndrome consisting of PSC-AIH with concomitant presence of a membranous glomerulonephritis and ulcerative colitis
Odile Warling, Christophe Bovy, Carla Coïmbra, Timothée Noterdaeme, Jean Delwaide, Edouard Louis
Odile Warling, Department of Internal Medicine, CHU de Liège, University of Liège, 4000 Liege, Belgium
Christophe Bovy, Department of Internal Medicine, Nephrology, CHU de Liège, University of Liège, 4000 Liege, Belgium
Carla Coïmbra, Department of Abdominal Surgery and Transplantation, CHU de Liège, University of Liège, 4000 Liege, Belgium
Timothée Noterdaeme, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, German Heart Center, 80636 Munich, Germany
Jean Delwaide, Edouard Louis, Department of Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology, CHU de Liège, University of Liège, 4000 Liege, Belgium
Author contributions: Warling O wrote the paper and collected and analyzed data; Noterdaeme T helped write the paper, as well as translating, proof-reading, and applied any necessary corrections to it; Coïmbra C was involved in the medical treatment; Bovy C, Delwaide J and Louis E were the physicians involved in the medical treatment of the mentioned patients and also supervised the article; all authors reviewed and agreed upon the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Odile Warling, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, CHU de Liège, University of Liège, Avenue de l’Hôpital 1, Domaine universitaire du Sart-Tilman, Batiment B35, 4000 Liege, Belgium. owarling@alumni.ulg.ac.be
Telephone: +32-4-94828383 Fax: +32-4-3667889
Received: September 20, 2013
Revised: November 21, 2013
Accepted: January 6, 2014
Published online: April 28, 2014
Processing time: 221 Days and 9.7 Hours
Abstract

The association of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is known as an overlap syndrome (OS). OS can also be described in the setting of concomitant presence of AIH and PSC. These diseases can in some cases be associated with ulcerative colitis. In this case report we describe, to our knowledge, the first case in the literature of a young Caucasian male suffering from ulcerative colitis and an overlap syndrome consisting of an association between PSC-AIH, with the concomitant presence of a membranous glomerulonephritis.

Keywords: Primary sclerosing cholangitis; Autoimmune hepatitis; Overlap syndrome; Ulcerative colitis; Membranous glomerulonephritis

Core tip: This case reports highlights a particular kind of hepatic overlap syndrome. To our knowledge it would be the first case to be described in the literature concerning 4 different diagnoses; all being autoimmune related. These autoimmune diseases were never described together, yet their association in this case is probably not a sheer coincidence. Auto-immune diseases will play an ever more import role in the future; yet the current knowledge and understanding concerning these pathologies is certainly only a fraction of what is necessary to offer the best treatment to our patients.