PEDIATRICS Vol. 99 No. 3 March 1997, pp. 376-382 (doi:10.1542/peds.99.3.376)
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Yoon, P. W.
Right arrow Articles by Khoury, M. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Yoon, P. W.
Right arrow Articles by Khoury, M. J.
Related Collections
Right arrow Gastrointestinal Tract
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

PEDIATRICS Vol. 99 No. 3 March 1997, pp. 376-382

Epidemiology of Biliary Atresia: A Population-based Study

Received Feb 2, 1996; accepted May 20, 1996.

Paula W. Yoon*, Joseph S. BreseeDagger , Richard S. Olney*, Levy M. James*, and Muin J. Khoury*

From the Divisions of * Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities and Dagger  Viral and Rickettsial Disease, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.

Objective.  Biliary atresia is the leading cause of extrahepatic obstructive jaundice in the newborn and is the single most frequent indication for liver transplantation in children. The cause of biliary atresia is unknown, although several mechanisms have been postulated to explain the inflammatory process that obliterates the bile ducts. Most interest has been directed toward viral infections. Information about the epidemiologic characteristics of biliary atresia in well-defined populations is lacking but is essential for developing and addressing hypotheses of causation for the disease.

Methods.  Infants with biliary atresia were identified in metropolitan Atlanta from 1968 through 1993 by a population-based birth defects surveillance system that ascertains infants with serious birth defects in the first year of life using active case ascertainment. Birth prevalence rates were analyzed for spatial and temporal clustering and effects attributable to county of residence, sex, race, maternal age, parity, and birth weight. Logistic regression was used to study the independent effects of the risk factors and to look for interactions.

Results.  Fifty-seven infants with biliary atresia were identified, for a rate of 0.73 per 10 000 live births. There was significant seasonal clustering of the disease, with rates three times higher from December through March compared with rates from April through July. Rates were significantly higher among nonwhite infants compared with white infants (0.96 vs 0.44 per 10 000 live births) and infants born at term with low birth weights (<2500 g) compared with infants born at term with normal birth weights (>= 2500 g) (2.62 vs 0.75 per 10 000 live births).

Conclusions.  Our study is the first in the United States to describe the epidemiologic characteristics of biliary atresia using a population-based approach. The demonstration of significant seasonal clustering provides support for theories that biliary atresia may be caused by environmental exposure (consistent with a viral cause) during the perinatal period.

Key words: biliary atresia, bile ducts, space-time clustering, race.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed.Home page
E Livesey, M C. Borja, K Sharif, N Alizai, P McClean, D Kelly, N Hadzic, and M Davenport
Epidemiology of biliary atresia in England and Wales (1999-2006)
Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed., November 1, 2009; 94(6): F451 - F455.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 PediatricsHome page
M. Davenport, A. Dhawan;, P. Yoon, J. S. Bresee, R. S. Olney, and M. J. Khoury
Epidemiologic Study of Infants With Biliary Atresia
Pediatrics, April 1, 1998; 101 (4): 729 - 730.
[Full Text]