Biliary Atresia; Diagnosis, Symptoms, Treatment & Kasai Procedure

How is biliary atresia diagnosed?

Biliary atresia is not a simple diagnosis, and diagnosing it early on is a must. The complicated part is that most infants with the condition do not have jaundice when they are first born. They develop symptoms gradually after the first few weeks which include:

• Jaundice: Jaundice starts in the first few weeks and is deep in color. This type of jaundice is called cholestatic jaundice and is greenish yellow in color. It usually progresses slowly from the time it starts.
• Dark urine: Urine becomes dark in color as jaundice develops. The reason behind this is that when bile accumulates, it refluxes back into the blood and is then filtered by the kidneys.
• Pale stools: Bile is one of the things that give stools its characteristic color. Its lack causes stools to be clay-colored and pale.

The doctor will then examine the infant for other signs of jaundice including enlarged liver and spleen which usually occur. They will also perform a general clinical examination of your baby with focus on the abdomen and the heart, since some infants can have heart abnormalities. Afterwards, they may order some investigations whether laboratory or imaging.