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Biliary atresia at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital: A retrospective descriptive study reviewing the age of presentation, clinical course and outcome of infants presenting to RCWMCH with biliary atresia

Background: Biliary atresia (BA) is a progressive obstructive cholangiopathy of unknown aetiology, occurring during the perinatal period. If left untreated it rapidly progresses to hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis, with death occurring within 2 years. It is the leading cause of end-stage liver disease...

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Main Author: Levin, Lindsey Nicola
Other Authors: Goddard, Elizabeth
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health 2017
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access_status_str Open Access
author Levin, Lindsey Nicola
author2 Goddard, Elizabeth
author_browse Goddard, Elizabeth
Levin, Lindsey Nicola
author_facet Goddard, Elizabeth
Levin, Lindsey Nicola
author_sort Levin, Lindsey Nicola
collection Thesis
description Background: Biliary atresia (BA) is a progressive obstructive cholangiopathy of unknown aetiology, occurring during the perinatal period. If left untreated it rapidly progresses to hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis, with death occurring within 2 years. It is the leading cause of end-stage liver disease in the paediatric population and remains the most common indication for paediatric liver transplantation in South Africa. Objectives: Despite a wealth of information from developed countries, very little information is available in Africa and other developing nations. This study aimed to describe the age of presentation, clinical course and outcome of infants presenting to Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital (RCWMCH) with BA. Methods: A retrospective folder review was conducted on all patients with BA presenting to RCWMCH between January 2003 and December 2013. The main outcomes assessed were median time to presentation to tertiary services, clearance of jaundice post Kasai procedure (bilirubin <20μmol/L) and 2- and 5-year overall survival (OS) and survival with native liver (SNL). Results: The median age at presentation in the 80 cases reviewed was 70 days. Kasai procedure (KP) was performed in 62 (77.5%) patients at a median age of 68 days. 18 patients who presented late did not undergo KP. Clearance of jaundice was achieved in 39% of KPs. 13 patients underwent KP beyond 90 days with a success rate of 38%. 2- and 5-year SNL rates were 41% and 37.5% respectively with OS of 59% at 2-years and 56% at 5-years. Liver transplant was only performed in 12 of the 54 patients who showed progression to require transplantation. Conclusions: Jaundice clearance post KP and SNL compared favourably with international figures, however, lower overall survival rates reflected lack of access to transplantation. Age at KP was not a predictor of poor outcome.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:33:41.762Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2017
publishDateRange 2017
publishDateSort 2017
publisher Department of Paediatrics and Child Health
publisherStr Department of Paediatrics and Child Health
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/22822 Biliary atresia at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital: A retrospective descriptive study reviewing the age of presentation, clinical course and outcome of infants presenting to RCWMCH with biliary atresia Levin, Lindsey Nicola Goddard, Elizabeth De Lacy, Ronalda Pillay, Komala Paediatrics Background: Biliary atresia (BA) is a progressive obstructive cholangiopathy of unknown aetiology, occurring during the perinatal period. If left untreated it rapidly progresses to hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis, with death occurring within 2 years. It is the leading cause of end-stage liver disease in the paediatric population and remains the most common indication for paediatric liver transplantation in South Africa. Objectives: Despite a wealth of information from developed countries, very little information is available in Africa and other developing nations. This study aimed to describe the age of presentation, clinical course and outcome of infants presenting to Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital (RCWMCH) with BA. Methods: A retrospective folder review was conducted on all patients with BA presenting to RCWMCH between January 2003 and December 2013. The main outcomes assessed were median time to presentation to tertiary services, clearance of jaundice post Kasai procedure (bilirubin <20μmol/L) and 2- and 5-year overall survival (OS) and survival with native liver (SNL). Results: The median age at presentation in the 80 cases reviewed was 70 days. Kasai procedure (KP) was performed in 62 (77.5%) patients at a median age of 68 days. 18 patients who presented late did not undergo KP. Clearance of jaundice was achieved in 39% of KPs. 13 patients underwent KP beyond 90 days with a success rate of 38%. 2- and 5-year SNL rates were 41% and 37.5% respectively with OS of 59% at 2-years and 56% at 5-years. Liver transplant was only performed in 12 of the 54 patients who showed progression to require transplantation. Conclusions: Jaundice clearance post KP and SNL compared favourably with international figures, however, lower overall survival rates reflected lack of access to transplantation. Age at KP was not a predictor of poor outcome. 2017-01-19T12:24:26Z 2017-01-19T12:24:26Z 2016 Master Thesis Masters MMed http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22822 eng application/pdf Department of Paediatrics and Child Health Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Paediatrics
Levin, Lindsey Nicola
Biliary atresia at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital: A retrospective descriptive study reviewing the age of presentation, clinical course and outcome of infants presenting to RCWMCH with biliary atresia
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Biliary atresia at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital: A retrospective descriptive study reviewing the age of presentation, clinical course and outcome of infants presenting to RCWMCH with biliary atresia
title_full Biliary atresia at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital: A retrospective descriptive study reviewing the age of presentation, clinical course and outcome of infants presenting to RCWMCH with biliary atresia
title_fullStr Biliary atresia at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital: A retrospective descriptive study reviewing the age of presentation, clinical course and outcome of infants presenting to RCWMCH with biliary atresia
title_full_unstemmed Biliary atresia at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital: A retrospective descriptive study reviewing the age of presentation, clinical course and outcome of infants presenting to RCWMCH with biliary atresia
title_short Biliary atresia at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital: A retrospective descriptive study reviewing the age of presentation, clinical course and outcome of infants presenting to RCWMCH with biliary atresia
title_sort biliary atresia at red cross war memorial children s hospital a retrospective descriptive study reviewing the age of presentation clinical course and outcome of infants presenting to rcwmch with biliary atresia
topic Paediatrics
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22822
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