Abstract
Patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) develop portal hypertension and esophageal varices (EV) even before they become cirrhotic . It is clear that a hemorrhage from EV occasionally occurrs as an initial symptom of PBC. Incidence of esophageal varices increases with progression of the stages of PBC, but some patients show high risk varices with a red color sign even at an early stage. The PBC patients had a higher portal pressure and an earlier recurrence of esophageal varices compared to patients with liver cirrhosis due to viral and alcoholic etiology. The patients with EV had a poorer prognosis than those without EV. It is difficult to treat patients with EV after rupture. If the patients are diagnosed as PBC, the EV should be diagnosed by the upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. The early treatment for EV is necessary for a good prognosis.
