Patient's question:
A colleague's son recently underwent surgery for biliary atresia. It has been more than two months since the surgery. During this follow-up liver function test, several indicators were elevated again, which were not present in the previous two tests. This month, supplementary foods have been added to his diet. Could you please explain why there are so many children with biliary atresia now?Doctor's answer:
Biliary atresia is one of the common causes of jaundice in newborns and is a congenital disease, mostly caused by poor embryonic development. It is divided into intrahepatic and extrahepatic types. In the early stage, it primarily manifests as painless jaundice that progressively worsens. It commonly occurs 1-2 weeks after birth. Treatment mainly involves surgical reconstruction of bile drainage. The best time for surgery is within two months after birth. Beyond this limit, irreversible biliary cirrhosis often develops, leading to poor long-term prognosis. The surgical method generally follows the principle of anastomosis between residual bile ducts and the digestive tract. In cases of intrahepatic atresia, a hepatopancreaticojejunostomy should be performed.