Early histopathologic changes in primary biliary cholangitis: does ‘minimal change’ primary biliary cholangitis exist? A pathologist’s view

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), formerly known as primary biliary cirrhosis, is an autoimmune, slowly progressive, cholestatic liver disease characterized by nonsuppurative destructive cholangitis, and interlobular bile duct destruction. Necroinflammatory activities of the hepatic parenchyma and limiting plates of milder form along with late liver fibrosis may develop. Serum liver tests include elevated serum alkaline phosphatase along with a positive antimitochondrial antibody (AMA) in nearly 95% of patients. Liver biopsies are an important confirmatory and staging tool and are additionally very helpful when AMA is negative. More specifically, the earliest changes in liver biopsy suspicious for PBC can be detected, namely loss of the canals of Hering (CoH), as proposed by various authors recently. CoH loss has been described as an early feature of PBC. We focus on early histologic features of PBC, investigating through the literature the possible role of ‘minimal change’ supporting the clinical diagnosis of PBC, even in the absence of characteristic granulomatous duct destructive lesions.