Persistent Jaundice after Hepatic Portojejunostomy in Biliary Atresia: Are the Patients' Prognoses Determined within 3 Months after Surgery?

CHIBA, T., OHI, R., UCHIDA, T., HAYASHI, Y. and MOCHIZUKI, I. Persistent Jaundice after Hepatic Portojejunostamy in Biliary Atresia: Are the Patients' Prognoses Determined within 3 Months after Surgery? Tohoku J. exp. Med., 1988, 154 (2), 149-156 - Eighteen patients with biliary atresia who showed persistent jaundice after hepatic porto-jejunostomy were studied clinically. It was revealed that: 1) Patients who had abnormally high preoperative values of laboratory data showed persistent jaundice; 2) high portal pressure occurred frequently in patients with persistent jaundice; 3) most patients of persistent jaundice had a history of postoperative cholangitis; 4) in contrast to jaundice-free patients, those with persistent jaundice tended to show elevation in gamma-globulin, TTT and gamma-GTP in the early postoperative period. These results suggest that for patients showing an upward tendency in these laboratory data after surgery, carefully management should be taken, even if the serum bilirubin level continue to decrease.