What is Biliary Atresia?
- Biliary atresia is a rare liver disorder that affects newborn babies. It affects the tubes (bile ducts) that carry bile from within the liver to the gut (intestine). The bile ducts are damaged or missing in biliary atresia.
Bile is a yellow-green liquid made in the liver. It contains bile salts that help digestion. Bile also contains bilirubin (see What is bilirubin? in the jaundice fact sheet) and other substances that the body needs to get rid of. These substances build up in the liver and blood stream if the bile ducts do not drain properly. Some of these substances cause liver damage.
If bilirubin cannot drain away through the bile ducts into the intestine, it causes jaundice. Jaundice is the medical word for yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes.
Once bilirubin reaches the intestine, it is digested and changes colour. It gives poo (bowel motions, stools) its normal brown colour. Pale, white or light beige-coloured poo is one sign of a complete blockage or lack of connection between the liver and the intestine.
(Aloysius' stool color fall on number 2).
There is a preliminary operation for babies having biliary atresia, the KASAI PROCEDURE...
though the success rate is very minimal this operation is carried out as early as possible between 1 - 3 mos old. Typically KASAI PROCEDURE is somehow a means to delay the liver transplant which is the last resort to cure babies with biliary atresia.
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