A research report submitted to the degree of Master of Medicine in the Department of Surgery for the University of the Witwatersrand Health Sciences, 2013 / Biliary atresia (BA) is characterised by a progressive obliterative
cholangiopathy. If surgical treatment by a Kasai Portoenterostomy (KP) is undertaken
early on in life there is the potential for successful bile drainage. The natural disease
progression without intervention results in fibrosis and cirrhosis, necessitating liver
transplantation before two years of life. Despite the advances in the management of
biliary atresia over the recent decades we still do not have a good indicator of which
patients will do well after surgery and which will require further intervention for their liver
dysfunction. There are many clinical and serological indicators that suggest liver failure,
but liver histology remains the gold standard indicating the extent of liver damage. This
is, however, being slowly replaced by various new less-invasive biological markers,
including the Aminotransferase Aspartate to Platelet Ratio Index (APRi).
This study looks at this biological marker for patients with biliary atresia with reference
to their level of disease at the time of surgery and whether it is a prognostic tool for
long-term outcomes in this group of patients.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/13715 |
| Date | 10 February 2014 |
| Creators | Grieve, Andrew |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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