Mount Sinai has had a major and productive interest in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) for nearly 50 years, with important studies by Drs. Popper and Schaffner illuminating its clinical spectrum, natural history, and histopathologic evolution, as well as the nature and significance of cholestasis. Mount Sinai is currently following as many as 600 patients with this uncommon disease, including more than 100 who have received liver transplants and a similar number with advanced disease currently followed in the pre-transplant clinic. PBC support group meetings are held monthly at Mount Sinai under the direction of a non-physician moderator. Dr. Nancy Bach acts as a physician advisor.
Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) presents unique management issues requiring a multi-disciplinary approach due to its association with inflammatory bowel disease, cholangiocarcinoma, advanced endoscopy, adult and pediatric medicine, and liver transplantation, including liver donor transplantation. Mount Sinai is one of the few medical centers with expertise in all of these areas. Consequently hundreds of individuals with this rare disease are cared for at Mount Sinai. Those diagnosed as youths are seamlessly transitioned to adult care when necessary.
Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) presents in many different ways, from benign increases in blood test results to acute liver failure. Mount Sinai, as a transplant center, is prepared to care for patients at any stage of this disease. Similarly, autoimmune hepatitis is the end result of a number of different inciting factors, one of which is drug induced autoimmune hepatitis, in which Mount Sinai has a particular interest.
Ongoing projects from animal model development to clinical trials of novel therapies are all aimed at reducing the toll these often devastating diseases take on the lives of our patients. The program supports both clinical and basic science initiatives with funds provided by the National Institutes of Health, private foundations and pharmaceutical companies.