OBJECTIVE To determine more precisely the clinical and biological characteristics of AIDS-related cholangitis, and to investigate prognostic variables of this disease. METHODS Retrospective clinical and prognostic study. METHODS Biliary unit, Bicêtre Hospital, France. METHODS HIV-positive patients (n = 52) referred to the unit between December 1986 and June 1993 for biliary symptoms leading to the suspicion of AIDS-related cholangitis, (42 men; 10 women; mean age, 37 +/- 8 years). METHODS Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) was performed in order to determine the cause of the biliary symptoms. METHODS Clinical features and evolution of the cholangitis. RESULTS Among the 52 patients, 45 met the ERCP criteria of AIDS-related cholangitis (36 men; nine women). The diagnosis of cholangitis was strongly suggested by abdominal ultrasonography in 47% of the cases. ERCP showed papillary stenosis, diffuse cholangitis, extrahepatic cholangitis alone, and intrahepatic cholangitis alone in 60, 67, 7 and 27%, respectively. Endoscopic sphincterotomy was performed in 28 patients. Pain was relieved by sphincterotomy in nine patients, but the other clinical or biological features were not influenced. One-year and 2-year survival rates were 41 +/- 7% and 8 +/- 4%, respectively. Multidimensional analysis using a Cox model showed that a lymphocyte count > 500 x 10(6)/l was the only independent predictive factor of better survival. CONCLUSIONS AIDS-related cholangitis is a disease which leads preferentially to papillary stenosis or diffuse abnormalities of the biliary tract. Prognostic factors depend on the stage of the HIV infection. Another diagnosis of cholestasis was found in approximately 15% of the patients who showed biliary symptoms.