1.What is biliary atresia? What are the dangers? Biliary atresia is a fatal abnormality of the infant’s digestive system. Simply put, the bile duct is the channel through which bile flows from the liver. A child with biliary atresia means that the door to this channel is closed, blocked, and is no longer a channel, but a dead end. Bile is secreted by the liver, and after the channel is blocked, it will cause all the bile secreted by the liver to come out, forming a silt bile, causing the skin of the eyes to turn yellow, the stool to turn white, and the urine to look like soybean oil; if it does not improve after 3 months of life, it will cause cirrhosis, and the liver will lose its function, and the child will usually lose its life around 1 year old.2. What are the causes of biliary atresia? Is it all congenital? Can it be detected during maternal examination? The cause of biliary atresia is not well understood and is currently thought to be related to viral infection and other congenital genetic factors. Biliary atresia is not always congenital, but also includes the perinatal period, which is the period just after birth. At this time, biliary atresia is not detected by maternal examination.3. What are the symptoms of biliary atresia? The most common symptoms are jaundice (not physiological jaundice, but obstructive jaundice), pale or even white stools, and darkened urine like soybean oil. What is the difference? Physiologic jaundice usually appears 2-5 days after birth and subsides within 2 weeks for full-term babies and within 4 weeks for premature babies, while the child does not have any special symptoms except for looking slightly yellow. In contrast, if the jaundice is too early (within 24 hours), too heavy (determined by laboratory tests for blood bilirubin), too long (beyond the time it takes for physiological jaundice to subside) or reappears after it has subside normally, it is pathological jaundice, that is, as long as it is not physiological jaundice, it is pathological jaundice. There are many kinds of pathological jaundice, but biliary atresia is obstructive jaundice caused by blockage of the bile ducts, which needs to be identified by a professional pediatric surgeon through laboratory biochemical tests and other examinations. 5. Can biliary atresia be cured? Will it affect the child’s life expectancy? If biliary atresia is left untreated, children usually live until they are about 1 year old, and then they die because their liver loses function. At present, children with suspected biliary atresia should be diagnosed before the liver becomes sclerotic, and Kasai surgery is preferred for children who can be diagnosed in time. Can it be the same as a normal child after treatment? Currently, it is considered best to confirm the diagnosis and treatment around 2 months old, and definitely not more than 3 months old, otherwise, even if the diagnosis is confirmed, the best time for treatment is missed. For now, the only way a child can survive is after Kasai surgery or a liver transplant. Every child has his whole life, and a child with biliary atresia is indeed a little different.