What is Biliary Atresia

        Earlier this year Cordelia Faith Minter was diagnosed with the very rare, 1 in 10,000/15,000 (depending on the source referenced) condition called Biliary Atresia. Below is a short summary of her condition taken from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital website (the hospital where Cordelia is currently being treated and awaits her liver transplant).

      You will see the mention of a "Kasai" procedure as a possible treatment. Unfortunately Cordelia's liver was too badly damaged to complete the Kasai procedure and she was therefore almost immediately (after the attempted surgery) put on a the liver transplant waiting list.

     Cincinnati Children's Hospital is one of the lead hospital's in the country for research and treatment on this and other pediatric liver conditions. Given it's relative closeness to Buffalo (where Cordelia was born), it has been the best place for her to receive her treatment and Cliff, Dani and Cordelia are now living, semi-permanently in Cincinnati until after the surgery.

Biliary Atresia

What is biliary atresia?

Biliary atresia is a rare disease of the liver and bile ducts that occurs in infants. Symptoms of the disease appear or develop about two to eight weeks after birth.

Cells within the liver produce liquid called bile. Bile helps to digest fat. It also carries waste products from the liver to the intestines for excretion.

This network of channels and ducts is called the biliary system. When the biliary system is working the way it should, it lets the bile drain from the liver into the intestines.

When a baby has biliary atresia, bile flow from the liver to the gallbladder is blocked. This causes the bile to be trapped inside the liver, quickly causing damage and scarring of the liver cells (cirrhosis), and finally liver failure.

For more information see the Cincinnati Children's web page on this condition.