Abstract
AIM: To evaluate the prevalence of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) among Iranian adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or liver disorders. BACKGROUND: PSC is a rare and chronic liver disease characterized by inflammation, fibrosis, and intra- and/or extrahepatic bile duct structure. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted. The Web of Science, Scopus, Pubmed, Embase, Google Scholar, and local databases, including the IranDoc, IranMedex, SID, and MagIran databases, were searched for studies published before 6th February 2023 for the prevalence of PSC among Iranian adults. RESULTS: In total, 22 articles involving 19,747 Iranian participants were included in this meta-analysis. The overall pooled prevalence of PSC was 8% (95% CI: 5%-12%). Additionally, the prevalence of PSC stratified by gender was calculated based on four studies (n = 1402). The pooled prevalence of PSC was estimated to be 20% (95% CI: 11-31%) in males and 12% (95% CI: 3-38%) in females. The pooled prevalence of PSC was 6% (95% CI: 4-9%) in patients with IBD and 14% (95% CI: 8-23%) in patients with liver transplantation (LT). CONCLUSION: The pooled prevalence of PSC was 8% in Iranian adults, and the prevalence was greater in males than in females.