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File:IPLab13BiliaryAtresia5.jpg|This is a medium-power photomicrograph of liver section stained with a trichrome stain to demonstrate the portal fibrosis. The fibrous connective tissue (collagen) stains blue.
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== Study Questions ==
* <spoiler text="How common is biliary atresia?">Biliary atresia occurs in approximately 1 out of 10,000 live births.</spoiler>
* <spoiler text="What are the usual presenting signs?">Neonatal cholestasis.
A major cause of neonatal cholestasis (1/3 of cases) is extrahepatic biliary atresia (EHBA).</spoiler>
* <spoiler text="What is the pathogenesis of biliary atresia?">In most cases of EHBA the infants are born with a normal biliary tree. However, within the first few weeks of life the bile ducts are destroyed.
There are numerous theories as to the etiology of the inflammatory process that destroys the bile ducts in these newborns. These include:
# viral infections (reovirus 3, cytomegalovirus, and rubella virus);
# genetic inheritance (EHBA has been reported in twins and there are descriptions of EHBA occurring in families with anomalies of the intrahepatic biliary tree); and
# abnormal embryologic development--15 to 20% of EHBA patients have extrahepatic anomalies such as polysplenism, cardiovascular defects, and bowel atresias.</spoiler>
* <spoiler text="What is the standard treatment for extra-hepatic biliary atresia?">Liver transplantation.</spoiler>
{{IPLab 13}}
[[Category: IPLab:Lab 13]]
