Primary Biliary Cirrhosis

Treatment

Many people live active, productive lives after being diagnosed with primary biliary cirrhosis. Those who show no symptoms at the time of diagnosis may remain symptom-free for years. The main treatment for the disease in its early stage is ursodeoxycholic acid. Other medications are available to help the symptoms and complications of the disease. If medication no longer controls the disease and severe liver failure occurs, you may need a liver transplant.

Mayo Clinic has been doing research on PBC for more than 40 years and has developed and tested many treatments for the disease, including the first trial of ursodeoxycholic acid. You may qualify for tests of new diagnostic and treatment approaches at Mayo Clinic.

Disease severity index

Liver specialists at Mayo Clinic have developed a primary biliary cirrhosis disease-severity index, called the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD). This model helps doctors predict transplant survival and outcomes in people, which are used by doctors to determine where a person ranks on the priority list for a transplant.

Read more about primary biliary cirrhosis treatment.