Explaining the top questions about biliary atresia

  Biliary atresia is the most common cause of neonatal cholestasis and is characterized by complete fibrotic obstruction of part or all of the extrahepatic biliary tract occurring within the first 3 months of life. The disease is one of the more difficult to diagnose and has a poor prognosis, with an average survival of less than 1 year without treatment. Typical cases of biliary atresia: Infants are born at term and are often regarded as normal by parents and physicians at 1-2 weeks after birth, with most having no abnormalities and normal-colored stools. Jaundice is usually revealed gradually at 2-3 weeks after birth, with stools becoming brownish-yellow, yellowish, or beige, and later becoming a bile-free, clay-like grayish-white color, and the abdomen is often abnormally distended. Timely diagnosis and early surgery are crucial to the outcome of biliary atresia, which is best operated on in the 6th-10th week after birth. After 3 months of age, liver damage is irreversible and cirrhosis progresses rapidly, making surgery ineffective.