[An Asian man with recurrent abdominal pain]. / Varón asiático con dolor abdominal recurrente.

ABSTRACT

Recurrent pyogenic cholangitis (RPC), or oriental cholangiohepatitis, is characterized by intrabiliary pigment stone formation, whose main manifestation consists of recurrent episodes of cholangitis, although other biliopancreatic complications can also occur. RPC develops mainly in Asian patients, in whom this entity is one of the main causes of acute abdominal pain. The differential diagnosis should be established with all other entities associated with intrahepatic stone formation, which is more common in Asian countries compared with the predominance of gallstone formation in the West. The diagnostic and therapeutic approach requires collaboration among gastroenterologists, radiologists and gastrointestinal surgeons. We review the most important clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic features of this entity, which, although clearly predominant in Asia, is increasingly diagnosed in our setting.