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Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
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Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffTests and procedures used to diagnose primary sclerosing cholangitis include:
- Liver function blood tests. A blood test to check your liver function, including levels of your liver enzymes, can give your doctor clues about your diagnosis.
- X-rays of your bile ducts. Injecting a dye into your bile ducts allows them to be visible on an X-ray. To inject the dye, your doctor may recommend endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. During this procedure, your doctor guides a flexible tube down your throat and through your stomach to the area of your small intestine where your bile ducts empty. Using the tube and special tools, your doctor injects dye into the bile ducts.
- MRI of your bile ducts. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to make images of your liver and bile ducts.
- Testing a sample of liver tissue. A liver biopsy is a procedure to remove a piece of liver tissue for laboratory testing. Your doctor inserts a needle through your skin and into your liver to extract a tissue sample. Liver biopsy can help determine the extent of damage to your liver.
References
- Tung BY, et al. Sclerosing cholangitis and recurrent pyogenic cholangitis. In: Feldman M, et al. Sleisenger & Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, Management. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2006. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/124031765-2/0/1389/0.html. Accessed March 5, 2009.
- Silveira MG, et al. Clinical features and management of primary sclerosing cholangitis. World Journal of Gastroenterology. 2008;14:3338.
- Lopez MJ, et al. Primary sclerosing cholangitis and primary biliary cirrhosis. The American College of Gastroenterology. http://www.acg.gi.org/patient/gihealth/sclerosing.asp. Accessed March 8, 2009.
- Primary sclerosing cholangitis. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/primarysclerosingcholangitis/index.htm. Accessed March 8, 2009.
- Liver health tips. American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. http://www.aasld.org/yourliver/Pages/LiverHealthTips.aspx. Accessed March 8, 2009.
- Rosenthal TC, et al. Fatigue: An overview. American Family Physician. 2008;78:1173.
