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This is about my friend’s 4 months old son Adrish Dutta, who is suffering from Biliary Atresia for which he needs urgent liver transplant
At nearly 3 months of age the whites of his eyes started appearing yellowish. After a follow-up with doctor and a Total Bilirubin(Tb) test he was administered a syrup which would promote the breakdown of bilirubin since it was considerably higher (7.3) based on his age. After two weeks no improvement was noticed and on re-testing his Tb levels was found to be 8. Doctors suggested for multiple blood and USG tests the results of which denoted severe liver malfunction. He was admitted to AMRI for 4 days and was on antibiotics which didn’t help in reducing his jaundice levels and doctor suggested for liver biopsy. After a few days he was admitted to Apollo Hospital and doctor performed a few scans to confirm the diagnosis. Based on its result, they suspected a neonatal liver disease known as Biliary Atresia which is a progressive liver disease in which the Liver’s bile ducts are not formed properly or damaged due to an infection hence the bile is not drained from Liver to small intestine. The doctors then went for an open surgery known as Kasai procedure in which his intestine was connected to the Liver directly as an alternate of the bile duct and the damaged gall bladder was removed. A sample of the liver was also sent for Biopsy to confirm the extent of damage to the liver which came out to be early cirrhosis or fibrosis. After two weeks of the surgery he was discharged and his Tb levels decreased to 8.4 after the surgery as compared to 12 before. Two weeks after the surgery he had to be admitted again to Apollo Hospital due to an infection in the Liver known as Cholangitis which is a known complication of the surgery. His Tb levels started rising again and doctors administered him with an Intra Venous(IV) Antibiotics which didn’t seem to work and his Tb level climbed to 17. After 7 days the Antibiotic was changed to a stronger dose and this responded better bringing his Tb level down to 12, however now even after two weeks of Antibiotics he is suffering from intermittent fever and swollen abdomen. So the doctors suggested the surgery didn’t work well for him and he has to go for a Liver Transplantation as his bile is not getting drained leading to further liver damage. So the only possible cure for this disease is Liver Transplantation which involves finding a suitable donor, evaluation of the donor and the recipient through several Blood and Imaging tests. Once a suitable donor is found a portion of the donor’s liver will be used as the new liver for the baby.
At nearly 3 months of age the whites of his eyes started appearing yellowish. After a follow-up with doctor and a Total Bilirubin(Tb) test he was administered a syrup which would promote the breakdown of bilirubin since it was considerably higher (7.3) based on his age. After two weeks no improvement was noticed and on re-testing his Tb levels was found to be 8. Doctors suggested for multiple blood and USG tests the results of which denoted severe liver malfunction. He was admitted to AMRI for 4 days and was on antibiotics which didn’t help in reducing his jaundice levels and doctor suggested for liver biopsy. After a few days he was admitted to Apollo Hospital and doctor performed a few scans to confirm the diagnosis. Based on its result, they suspected a neonatal liver disease known as Biliary Atresia which is a progressive liver disease in which the Liver’s bile ducts are not formed properly or damaged due to an infection hence the bile is not drained from Liver to small intestine. The doctors then went for an open surgery known as Kasai procedure in which his intestine was connected to the Liver directly as an alternate of the bile duct and the damaged gall bladder was removed. A sample of the liver was also sent for Biopsy to confirm the extent of damage to the liver which came out to be early cirrhosis or fibrosis. After two weeks of the surgery he was discharged and his Tb levels decreased to 8.4 after the surgery as compared to 12 before. Two weeks after the surgery he had to be admitted again to Apollo Hospital due to an infection in the Liver known as Cholangitis which is a known complication of the surgery. His Tb levels started rising again and doctors administered him with an Intra Venous(IV) Antibiotics which didn’t seem to work and his Tb level climbed to 17. After 7 days the Antibiotic was changed to a stronger dose and this responded better bringing his Tb level down to 12, however now even after two weeks of Antibiotics he is suffering from intermittent fever and swollen abdomen. So the doctors suggested the surgery didn’t work well for him and he has to go for a Liver Transplantation as his bile is not getting drained leading to further liver damage. So the only possible cure for this disease is Liver Transplantation which involves finding a suitable donor, evaluation of the donor and the recipient through several Blood and Imaging tests. Once a suitable donor is found a portion of the donor’s liver will be used as the new liver for the baby.
