Familial biliary atresia

First multivisceral transplantation in Mitchell-Riley/Martinez-Frias syndrome

BACKGROUND

MRS/MFS is a rare multisystem disorder with a poor prognosis. The high mortality rate of this syndrome is related to the severity of the associated gastrointestinal, pancreatic, and hepatobiliary conditions, as most of them are not amenable to conventional medical and surgical treatments.

METHODS

We report the case of a Romani girl with all the key clinical features of MRS/MFS, and a review of cases reported in the literature. Our patient is a newborn from consanguineous parents who presented duodenal atresia, hypoplastic pancreas, gallbladder agenesis, and neonatal diabetes. Given the clinical suspicion of MRS/MFS, a genetic analysis was performed which revealed the presence of a homozygous variant in the RFX6 gene. During the course of the disease, the patient presented intractable secretory diarrhea and severe intestinal failure.

RESULTS

At 2 years of age, she underwent MVT of the stomach, duodenum, small intestine, colon, liver, and pancreas. There were no surgical complications. Histologic evaluation of the small bowel showed extensive patches of gastric heterotopia. After more than 10 years of follow-up, she had presented with normal gastrointestinal, hepatic, and pancreatic function. She has one of the longest survival periods in the literature.

CONCLUSIONS

Our experience suggests that multivisceral transplantation may be a promising option in select cases of MRS/MFS.

Biliary atresia: 50 years after the first kasai

Biliary atresia is a rare neonatal disease of unknown etiology, where obstruction of the biliary tree causes severe cholestasis, leading to biliary cirrhosis and death in the first years of life, if the condition is left untreated. Biliary atresia is the most frequent surgical cause of cholestatic jaundice in neonates and should be evoked whenever this clinical sign is associated with pale stools and hepatomegaly. The treatment of biliary atresia is surgical and currently recommended as a sequence of, eventually, two interventions. During the first months of life a hepatoportoenterostomy (a "Kasai," modifications of which are discussed in this paper) should be performed, in order to restore the biliary flow to the intestine and lessen further damage to the liver. If this fails and/or the disease progresses towards biliary cirrhosis and life-threatening complications, then liver transplantation is indicated, for which biliary atresia represents the most frequent pediatric indication. Of importance, the earlier the Kasai is performed, the later a liver transplantation is usually needed. This warrants a great degree of awareness of biliary atresia, and the implementation of systematic screening for this life-threatening pathology.

Mother-to-daughter occurrence of biliary atresia: a case report

We herein report a case of mother-to-daughter occurrence of biliary atresia (BA). The mother underwent a Kasai hepatic portoenterostomy at the age of 64 days with a diagnosis of type III BA. Her postoperative course was uneventful, with a good bile discharge, and she became pregnant at the age of 20 years. At 21 weeks of gestational age, fetal ultrasonographic examination of the baby revealed a cystic mass at the hepatic hilum. The baby was born via vaginal delivery at 41 weeks of gestation with a birth weight of 3269 g. Because of an increasing direct bilirubin level and the absence of bile excretion, a laparotomy was performed at the age of 29 days. Intraoperative cholangiography revealed the diagnosis of BA I-cyst, and a hepaticojejunostomy was performed with a good bile discharge. To our knowledge, these patients are the first occurrence of BA in a transmission pattern of mother to daughter.

Intrauterine growth retardation, duodenal and extrahepatic biliary atresia, hypoplastic pancreas and other intestinal anomalies: Further evidence of the Martínez-Frías syndrome

We describe a patient born to consanguineous parents, who presented with an MCA pattern characterized by low birth weight, duodenal atresia, extrahepatic biliary atresia, hypoplastic pancreas and intestinal malrotation. The infant died 60 days after birth. Chromosomes at 550-600 band levels were normal for a female (46,XX). This patient confirmed the autosomal recessive disorder previously described by our group. The pathogenesis of this syndrome is most probably of blastogenetic origin mainly affecting midline developmental duodenal biliary pancreatic junction.

Biliary atresia

BA is a rare disease of unclear etiology; nevertheless, its impact in the field of pediatric hepatology is significant. It is the most common surgically correctable cause of neonatal cholestasis and is the most common pediatric disease referred for liver transplantation. Little progress has been made with regard to improving outcome or understanding its pathogenesis in the past decade. Fortunately, however, a national, government-sponsored collaborative endeavor has begun that will hopefully make a significant impact upon the progress of designing new treatments for BA and develop a better understanding of its pathogenesis.

Biliary atresia: an update on our understanding of the disorder

Biliary atresia is the leading cause of cholestasis in infants younger than 3 months. It is also the leading indication for liver transplantation in children. This review focuses on recent advances in the etiology, diagnosis, and management of biliary atresia.