Epidemiology of primary biliary cirrhosis

Abstract
A multi-national survey of the clinical and epidemiological aspects of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) was conducted in 10 countries in Western Europe, surveying a population of over 24 million. The prevalence on Dec. 31, 1981 was 23/million, but this showed a marked variation from center to center for reasons which are not clear. The annual incidence of PBC has remained constant at .apprx. 4/million over the past 4 yr, while the point prevalence has continued to rise, suggesting that the true prevalence may be rather higher than present figures suggest. The female:male sex ratio is 10:11, but in stages I and II this ratio is 6.5:1 compared with 11.4:1 in stages III and IV. Possible reasons for this are discussed.