Clinical features
About one-third of patients are jaundiced at birth. In all, jaundice is present by the end of the first week and deepens progressively.
Other features include:
- pale stools, indicating obstruction
- dark urine
- pruritus
- often hepatomegaly and splenomegaly
In untreated, or unsuccessfully treated biliary atresia there may be clubbing and skin xanthomas, a result of the raised serum cholesterol.
The occasional patient may be thriving and be without hepatomegaly but will still require prompt diagnosis if biliary cirrhosis is to be avoided.
Related pages
Create an account to add page annotations
Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.