Autoimmune hepatitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, and inflammatory bowel disease. Sequential overlap syndrome: a twist to the mosaic of autoimmunity

Rev Esp Enferm Dig. 2020 Oct;112(10):745-747. doi: 10.17235/reed.2020.7512/2020.

Abstract

Autoimmune liver diseases can overlap resulting in a new entity, phenotypically different from those pathologies that converge, and that demonstrates the complexity of our immune system. Sequential overlap syndrome is the consecutive presentation, separated by a variable period of time, of two liver autoimmune diseases, mostly autoimmune hepatitis and primary biliary cholangitis. This syndrome constitutes a challenge both in its diagnosis and in its treatment given the exceptional nature of its presentation. The theory of a mosaic of autoimmunity is proposed to describe this phenomenon.

MeSH terms

  • Autoimmunity
  • Cholangitis, Sclerosing* / complications
  • Hepatitis, Autoimmune* / complications
  • Humans
  • Inflammatory Bowel Diseases*
  • Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary*