Biliary atresia: a multidisciplinary approach to diagnosis and management.

CONTEXT: Biliary atresia is an inflammatory cholangiopathy of infancy that results in progressive fibrosis and obliteration of bile ducts and represents the main indication for liver transplant in young children. In spite of extensive investigation, its etiology has remained poorly understood. Timely surgical intervention (Kasai procedure) may result in significant benefit to these patients and represents the final goal of an accurate diagnostic evaluation.

OBJECTIVE: To present an overview of biliary atresia, including clinical and surgical approaches to this disease, with emphasis on the histopathologic evaluation.

DATA SOURCES: Review of relevant literature indexed in PubMed (US National Library of Medicine).

CONCLUSION: A well-coordinated multidisciplinary approach is required in the assessment of suspected cases of biliary atresia. Pathologic examination of biopsy specimens is an integral part of the diagnostic algorithm and, therefore, plays a pivotal role in the diagnostic evaluation of this disease.