LOW-PREVALENCE OF PRIMARY BILIARY-CIRRHOSIS IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA

A prevalence study of primary biliary cirrhosis was carried out in the state of Victoria, Australia, by means of a mail survey of specialist physicians and a review of hospital records. Eighty four cases were i dentified, giving a prevalence of 19.1 per million population (95% con fidence Limits (CI) 15.3, 23.7), which is among the lowest in publishe d reports. The prevalence in the Australian born, at risk population ( women over the age of 24) was 51 per million (95% CI 37.5, 67.9). Both these figures are considerably lower than those in populations of sim ilar age distribution in the UK and northern Europe. Since most Victor ians are descended from British or European settlers, the low prevalen ce of primary biliary cirrhosis in this study supports the hypothesis that local environmental factors may be important in the pathogenesis of this disease.