LETTER

Association between fatigue and decreased survival in primary biliary cirrhosis

Claudia O Zein¹, Arthur J McCullough²

¹ Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland, and Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
² Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr Claudia O Zein
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Louis Stokes Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 10701 East Boulevard 111 E (W), Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA;Claudia.zein@case.edu

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

We read with interest the article by Jones and colleagues on the stability of fatigue severity in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) over 4 years of follow-up (Gut 2006;55:536–41). The authors reported that, in their patient cohort, a high fatigue score predicted subsequent decreased survival.

Fatigue is frequent in patients with PBC, and it is known to have a negative impact on quality of life in this population.^1–3 An established association between the presence of a high fatigue score at presentation and a significantly higher likelihood of death would have important implications. To date, recognised variables associated with prognosis in patients with PBC include age, certain markers of liver function and scores based on these.³ A lack of association between fatigue and markers of liver disease severity in PBC has been demonstrated.⁴

We have investigated the relationship between the presence of fatigue at presentation and . . . [Full text of this article]

David E J Jones³, Julia L Newton³

³ Liver Research Group, Institute for Cellular Medicine, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Professor D E J Jones
Centre for Liver Research, Floor 4, William Leech Building, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK; d.e.j.jones@ncl.ac.uk

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Relevant Article

Four year follow up of fatigue in a geographically defined primary biliary cirrhosis patient cohort

D E J Jones, N Bhala, J Burt, J Goldblatt, M Prince, and J L Newton
Gut 2006 55: 536-541. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]