Screening for biliary atresia

Biliary atresia is a severe progressive cholangiopathy which leads to early liver cirrhosis and is uniformly fatal. Early surgical intervention (the Kasai procedure) is needed for an improved outcome. However, early recognition and diagnosis is not easy during the neonatal period because of the high incidence of neonatal jaundice, ill-informed and less than urgent appraisal of the clinical manifestations among jaundiced neonates. A mass screening program for biliary atresia using a stool color card was conducted in Taiwan from March 2002 (in 49 hospitals and clinics) to December 2003 (in 95 hospitals and clinics). The stool color card for infants has proved to be a sensitive and specific screening method for biliary atresia in infants younger than two months of age.