Recognize cholestasis
Fractionated bilirubin testing helps distinguish elevated direct or conjugated bilirubin from typical physiologic newborn jaundice.
Condition overview
Understanding biliary atresia
Biliary atresia is a rare but serious liver disease that begins in infancy. Early recognition and prompt specialist evaluation are important.
What happens in biliary atresia?
Bile normally flows from the liver through bile ducts into the intestine. In biliary atresia, bile ducts become injured and obstructed. Bile cannot drain normally, which can lead to inflammation, scarring, and progressive liver damage.
The condition is not caused by anything a parent did or did not do. It is not contagious. Because early symptoms can resemble common newborn jaundice, ongoing or changing symptoms deserve prompt attention.
Three signs families should recognize
- Yellow skin or eyes that persist or worsen
- Pale, gray, white, or clay-colored stools
- Dark urine that stains the diaper
These signs can have causes other than biliary atresia, but they require medical evaluation.
From concern to evaluation
A coordinated diagnostic process
No single symptom, laboratory value, scan, or biomarker should be interpreted alone. The evaluating clinical team may use several complementary steps.
Evaluate promptly
The clinical team considers history, examination, blood tests, stool and urine appearance, imaging, and other causes of infant cholestasis.
Use supportive evidence
Biomarkers such as MMP-7 may support risk assessment, but results depend on the assay and clinical context.
Confirm and plan care
Specialists determine which procedures are needed to establish the diagnosis and guide treatment.
When to contact a clinician
Contact your child’s pediatrician promptly if jaundice persists beyond two weeks, appears to worsen, or occurs with pale stools or dark urine. Seek urgent care if your baby is difficult to wake, feeds poorly, has a fever, seems very unwell, or if you are otherwise seriously concerned.
Why timing matters
When biliary atresia is diagnosed, the clinical team may recommend a Kasai portoenterostomy to help restore bile flow. In general, earlier evaluation allows the care team to make timely decisions. Outcomes vary, and some children later need liver transplantation despite treatment.
Continue learning
MMP-7 is one piece of the evaluation
Learn what the biomarker may add, why assay-specific interpretation matters, and what it cannot determine on its own.
Explore MMP-7