Table 1 Liver disease and the porphyrias: names and patterns of inheritance for the seven main clinical variants of porphyria, highlighting those characterised by concomitant liver disease.

Disorder	Liver disease	Inheritance
ALA dehydratase porphyria	No	Autosomal recessive
Acute intermittent porphyria	No	Autosomal dominant
Congenital erythropoietic porphyria	No	Autosomal recessive
Porphyria cutanea tarda	Yes	Complex
Hereditary coproporphyria	No	Autosomal dominant
Variegate porphyria	No	Autosomal dominant, incomplete penetrance
Erythropoietic protoporphyria	Yes	Autosomal recessive (very rare) and autosomal dominant incomplete penetrance