Diseases of the gallbladder are common and costly. The best epidemiological screening
method to accurately determine point prevalence of gallstone disease is ultrasonography. …

Gallstone disease is a major health problem that is escalating. To identify risk factors in a
given population, epidemiologic studies must first define the frequency of disease. Such …

Background and Aims The only recognized biomarker for primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)
is atypical anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (aANCA), which, in addition to having …

Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) are the serological hallmark of some idiopathic
systemic vasculitides. Besides the investigation of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) and …

Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is the earliest form of hepatic encephalopathy and
can affect up to 80% of cirrhotic patients. By definition, it has no obvious clinical manifestation …

Over 50 years ago the lupus erythematosus (LE) cell phenomenon was described and this
was quickly followed by the introduction of the LE cell test and indirect immunofluorescence (…

Musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders constitute one of the most common clinical presentations
to clinical care givers. Within this category of illnesses, systemic autoimmune rheumatic …

Background Sera from children with post-varicella infections have autoantibodies that react
with centrosomes in brain and tissue culture cells. We investigated the sera of children with …

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), formerly known as primary biliary cirrhosis, is present
worldwide. Autoantibodies, in particular anti-mitochondrial antibodies (AMA) detected by indirect …

Background Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is frequently associated with extrahepatic
autoimmune disorders while interferon (IFN) and ribavirin treatment may exacerbate …