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Biliary Atresia
(GS002)

Introduction


Biliary atresia (BA) or extrahepatic biliary atresia (EHBA) is a disorder of infants in which there is an obliteration or discontinuity of the extrahepatic (outside of the liver) biliary system, resulting in obstruction of bile flow.

The incidence of EHBA is 1 in 10,000 to 13,000 newborns. The disorder occurs more often in girls than boys, and 20-30% of cases area ssociated with developmental abnormalities of the heart, digestive tract, or spleen (polysplenia [more than one spleen] or asplenia [no spleen]) or other abnormalities. Between 400-600 new cases of BA are encountered in the United States every year.

Because early intervention is so important, any infant older than 14 days with jaundice needs to be evaluated. Surgery is usually required to repair damage or malformations to promote normal flow of bile. Liver transplant may be required in severe cases.

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The Medifocus Guide on Biliary Atresia provides answers to the following important questions and medical issues:


What Your Doctor Reads:


This MediFocus Guide contains an extensive listing of citations and abstracts of recent journal articles that have been published about this condition in trustworthy medical journals. This is the same type of information that is available to physicians and other health care professionals. A partial selection of journal articles that are abstracted in this MediFocus Guide includes:


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