Biliary Atresia

Overview

Bile is a yellow-brownish liquid produced by our body for aiding digestion. There are bile ducts that carry the bile from the liver to gallbladder. Biliary Atresia is a condition in which the bile ducts are underdeveloped in newborns and they remain blocked which leads to liver damage and cirrhosis.

Cause

It is a congenital defect with no known cause.

Symptoms

This condition lies dormant till the second or third week. In the first month of development, the baby may normally gain weight and then drastically lose weight and become moody.

Extended spleen
Dark discolouration in urine
Floating stools
Faecal matter exhibits foul smell
Light or clay colouration on faecal matter
Slow or no weight gain
Stunted growth

Risk factor

Many factors can prove lethal for this disease.

Diagnosis

Physicians conduct the examination on the baby to check for extended liver first. Further methods are employed for confirmation.

X-Ray of the abdomen
Blood test
Imaging test like abdominal ultrasound
A targeted scan such as HIDA (Hepatobiliary iminodiacetic acid)
Liver biopsy
X-Ray of bile ducts

Treatment

Surgical treatment is proposed called the Kasai procedure which is used to reconnect normal flow through the liver to the ducts in the gallbladder within the first 8 weeks. A liver transplant might be performed later.