Surgical experience in children with biliary atresia treated with portoenterostomy

OBJECTIVE: Biliary atresia is the result of a fibrosing destructive inflammatory process affecting intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile ducts, which lead to cirrhosis and portal hypertension. Without surgical intervention, mortality reaches 100%. The 5-year survival rate after portoenterostomy ranges from 13% to 60%, with approximately 60% of patients requiring liver transplantation at a later stage because of insufficient bile flow. METHODS: This retrospective analysis includes 30 consecutive patients undergoing portoenterostomy for biliary atresia at our hospital. RESULTS: The 5-year actuarial survival of the 30 patients was 68%. Thirteen patients (43.3%) died 3 days to 7 years after portoenterostomy. Four patients (13.3%) underwent liver transplantation 3 to 24 months after the Kasai procedure with a 100% survival. In 65% of patients without presence of cirrhosis, the portoenterostomy was successful, compared with 35% of cases with liver cirrhosis (p = 0.0148). Liver cirrhosis with extrahepatic biliary atresia alone was present in 5 of 17 patients (29%) as compared with 8 of 12 patients (66%) with intrahepatic biliary hypoplasia in addition to extrahepatic biliary atresia and cirrhosis. CONCLUSIONS: Portoenterostomy remains the treatment of choice for patients with extrahepatic biliary atresia. However, the presence of cirrhosis portends a poorer prognosis and may be an indication for early transplantation. Cirrhosis is more commonly present in the setting of intrahepatic biliary hypoplasia and may account for the lower success rates of portoenterostomy in this group of patients. Five-year survival of the female patients was 88% as compared with 55% of the male patients.