What are the complications of biliary atresia?
Complications following portoenterostomy in patients with biliary atresia include both acute and chronic problems. • In the early postoperative phase, an unsuccessful anastomosis with failure to achieve adequate bile drainage is the most common complication. Adequacy of bile flow may be then predicted by the preoperative liver histology and the caliber of bile ductular remnants in the porta hepatis. In one third of all patients, bile flow is inadequate following surgery, and these children succumb to complications of biliary cirrhosis in the first few years of life unless orthotopic liver transplantation is performed. • Later in the course of the disease, complications related to progressive liver disease and portal hypertension occur in more than 60% of infants who achieved initial surgical success. • Cholangitis develops in 50% of patients following portoenterostomy. • Hepatocellular carcinoma may be a risk for those patients with cirrhosis and no clinical evidence of portal hyperten
