The understanding of autoimmune hepatitis has significantly evolved over the past decade, transforming from a rare pathology to a top-of-mind condition in hepatology consultations. Nevertheless, it is widely known that different populations exhibit distinct immunological behavior, indicating that our population’s characteristics are probably different from those in areas with higher prevalence and incidence, like the Nordic countries. The most pressing challenges involve the low performance of diagnostic tools and the difficulty of treating specific populations, albeit in a small percentage. This situation has led to the treatment of false-positive patients or, in some cases, the failure to treat false-negative patients, with significant consequences.

The article “Characterization of Patients Diagnosed with Autoimmune Hepatitis in a Fourth-Level Hospital in Cali, 2014-2020”¹ provides insights into the clinical and paraclinical characteristics of patients with autoimmune hepatitis in our population. It also sheds light on the diagnostic challenges patients and clinicians face, which can lead to different treatment approaches. This study highlights some unique features, such as a higher association with autoimmune thyroid disease than other autoimmune pathologies, lower positivity for anti-smooth muscle antibodies (ASMA) in this group compared to literature reports, and a small number of patients with a simplified score greater than seven. It emphasizes the importance of describing our own statistics and population characteristics, which can aid in understanding the behavior of autoimmune hepatitis in our environment.

Expanding this information to a national database, in conjunction with findings from other institutions, would be beneficial in developing a clinical, diagnostic, and treatment algorithm tailored to our unique clinical and immunological expressions.