Biliary Atresia Treatment; Help Slow the Progression of the Disease and Prevent Complications

Poonam Cmi
3 min readMay 19, 2022

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Biliary Atresia Treatment

Biliary atresia treatment regimen used to treat biliary atresia can be medications (including bile acids, antibiotics, and glucocorticoids) and surgical procedure. The most common treatment is a surgical operation called Kasai procedure. In this surgery, the surgeon removes the damaged bile ducts from outside the liver and replaces them with a piece of the patient’s small intestine. Doctors treat biliary atresia with a surgery called the Kasai procedure and eventually, in most cases, a liver transplant. Biliary atresia is one of the most common reason for liver transplant. Some children need to have a liver transplant before they are 20 years old, and survival after surgery has increased dramatically in recent years.

Biliary Atresia Treatment is a rare disease of the liver and bile ducts that occurs in infants. Biliary atresia is a blockage in the tubes (ducts) that carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder. This congenital condition occurs when the bile ducts inside or outside the liver do not develop normally. The symptoms of biliary atresia usually appear by the age of two to six weeks. In some cases, where the Kasai procedure is completely successful, the child may recover and live a normal life. However, in most cases, even when surgery is successful, patients will suffer gradual damage to the liver. Thanks to advances in biliary atresia treatment, more than 80 to 90 percent of infants with biliary atresia survive to adulthood.

Biliary Atresia Treatment is a rare but serious disorder that affects the biliary ducts. These ducts carry bile, a digestive fluid produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder, to the small intestine. Bile is essential to digestion and helps break down fats. Children with biliary atresia can have a similar clinical presentation as newborns with neonate hepatitis. Children with biliary atresia typically have dark urine and pale stools. Most people first notice the condition during the first two weeks after birth, although it may not become apparent until child is around three months old. If left untreated, biliary atresia can lead to cirrhosis and stunted growth. Treatment must be started within the first two months of life.

If left untreated, Biliary Atresia Treatment can lead to liver failure, and 70% to 80% of patients still need a liver transplant. It is a condition in which the bile ducts outside and inside the liver are scarred and blocked. Bile can’t flow into the intestine, so bile builds up in the liver and damages it. The damage leads to scarring, loss of liver tissue and function, and cirrhosis. It is associated with mutations in several genes, which are believed to contribute to its susceptibility to progression to cirrhosis and ultimately liver failure. Genetic testing using the whole exome sequence (WES) method has helped identify mutations in genes associated with biliary atresia. Biliary atresia is the most common cause of end-stage liver disease and liver transplantation in children.

However, there’s no cure for primary biliary cholangitis, but medications are available to help slow the progression of the disease and prevent complications. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for safe and effective biliary atresia treatment around the world.

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