Many children with Biliary Atresia will ultimately need a liver transplant.
Liver transplantation is a highly successful treatment for biliary atresia. Children with biliary atresia are now surviving well into adulthood with a liver transplant.
Approximately half of all children born with biliary atresia will need a liver transplant by the time they are 2 years old. By the age of 20, upwards of 70 percent of patients with biliary atresia will need a liver transplant. Overall, studies suggest that as many as 80% of individuals with BA will eventually require a new liver.
In addition to liver failure/high PELD scores a liver transplantation may be considered in:
After a liver transplant, a regimen of medications is used to prevent the immune system from rejecting the new liver.
http://www.uptodate.com.libraryproxy.quinnipiac.edu/contents/biliary-atresia?source=search_result&search=biliary+atresia&selectedTitle=1%7E43#H19844768
http://www.chop.edu/service/biliary-atresia-clinical-care-program/about-biliary-atresia/frequently-asked-questions-about-biliary-atresia.html
Liver transplantation is a highly successful treatment for biliary atresia. Children with biliary atresia are now surviving well into adulthood with a liver transplant.
Approximately half of all children born with biliary atresia will need a liver transplant by the time they are 2 years old. By the age of 20, upwards of 70 percent of patients with biliary atresia will need a liver transplant. Overall, studies suggest that as many as 80% of individuals with BA will eventually require a new liver.
In addition to liver failure/high PELD scores a liver transplantation may be considered in:
- poor growth; failure to thrive
- persistent infection of the bile ducts (cholangitis), and
- ascites (fluid in the abdomen) that does not respond to medicines.
After a liver transplant, a regimen of medications is used to prevent the immune system from rejecting the new liver.
http://www.uptodate.com.libraryproxy.quinnipiac.edu/contents/biliary-atresia?source=search_result&search=biliary+atresia&selectedTitle=1%7E43#H19844768
http://www.chop.edu/service/biliary-atresia-clinical-care-program/about-biliary-atresia/frequently-asked-questions-about-biliary-atresia.html