Liver Biopsy

[Amylene]

I'm a newbie here, I've been searching and stressing out about this Billiary Atresia. I read some of parents thier babies BR are 14 and keep going up. I had a question, if its billiary atresia the BR should keep going up right? My son is now in NICU for a month and his Liver enzyme or the BR is 6.3 then it went down to 5.3 then 5.2, but the doctor is not happy about it. I dont know what that number mean, all i know they will do the liver biopsy tomorrow to find out if its BA. What are the signs of BA aside from Jaundice? My son is taking Pregistimil and his weight keeps going up and down and he spits up alot. Is spitting alot is also a sign of BA? Please help me answer this questions. If its BA the BR should keep going up right? Thank you.

[vint]

Hi

Sit to hear you and your little one are having a tough time at the moment. I don't know about the BE but signs of BA are jaundice, raised conjugated BR, pale stools (clay colour) and dark urine. It's difficult because they are the signs of all liver disease so that is why the Doctors have to do all the tests, liver biopsy etc.I

Good luck i hope you get some answers soon.

X

[Bettymay80]

I’m sorry your going through this with your son and hope he is getting better.

I’m not sure if you found out already but the spitting up can be from many things. It can be reflux, if he was premature sometimes this happens with the sphincter of the esophagus. Sometimes babies can have this problem but as long as they gain weight they will suggest other things to hold their milk down.

Unfortunately there is no DNA test for BA and they rule out other liver conditions before they diagnose BA. I’ve seen them do ultrasound to see if the bile ducts are okay, a HIDA scan. And certain liver enzymes AST, ALT, GGT along with bilirubin are labs they look for and percutanous cholangiogram. My sons only symptom of BA was jaundice and just seemed tired more than usual with pale grey stools.

Looking at the poop is important because it’s an indicator if the liver is working okay. Babies shouldn’t have clay color poo. I hope that helps .

[Mk11 in reply to Bettymay80]

Hi Betty,

My son had elevated ALT,AST levels but he was very active and didnt have pale stools (light yellow) not clay until we fed him formula. I somewhere felt he might not have BA and that a surgery is not required but all parents would want to believe that right...but as we were alreay admitted in hospital and as his liver enzymes were high we agreed for surgery .so now finally after the surgery we are waiting for his recovery. I wanted to know how is ur kid doing and what to expect. Is there any way i can reach you to take your suggestions. I have lots of questions about this.

Thank you

[Bettymay80 in reply to Mk11]

I’m so sorry I didn’t see your message. I feel terrible. I don’t know how to use his blog well.

My email [e-mail]

Hope your baby is okay feel free to contact me

[Mk11]

Whats the update Amylene did the docs perform surgery? My sons br also went down before surgery just in 3 days after admitting in hospital and his alt ast also came down by half of what was it originally but still pretty high than normal range. He was not spitting and my sons weight was also incresing normally I asked the same question about bili levels but they said it might be due to The saline they might b giving. Doctors said its good that i got him early or else it wud have been worse. Am curious to know whats going on with your kid. Looks like we are in similar boat.

Thank you

[Amylene in reply to Mk11]

Hello MK11 sorry it took so long for me to reply. I am very busy with my new baby in my house. After all the test HIDA SCAN and liver biopsy, they did not find any scarring in his liver. Thank GOD he dont have BA but he tested positive for CMV. He had CMV hust barely, the scoring for CMV is 133 to millions and he got 154. They suspected that once in his life he got a Cholestasis in his liver from CMV. So now he is on antiviral medication for 6 months. He was discharge at the Hospital 3 weeks ago and we do blood works once a week. His bili still high 3.8. Oh and he also have a reflux so everytine we feed him he throws up but since we left at the hospital we change the Pregestimil formula from ready to use to powder formula his reflux is not as bad as before. We noticed a change of his feeding but still he have hard time gaining weight. I wish hos bili will went down and also we wish his hemoglobin will go to normal.

[Bettymay80]

What’s his hemoglobin? My oldest son had CMV in the NICU. I’m glad to hear his reflux is getting better

[Amylene in reply to Bettymay80]

Update on my son

3 weeks ago we are airlifted to St Louis Childrens Hospital because he had a hole in his bowel. They did surgery as soon as we arrived. They did bowel ressection and after the surgery all the labs went to normal. We will do another lab next month. Hopefully the lab will stay normal.