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Updated: Jun 15, 2025
A Silver Nanoparticle Method for Ameliorating Biliary Atresia Syndrome in Mice
Published on: October 13, 2018
A prospective multicentre study evaluating the performance of the modified simple biliary atresia scoring system in
Nooraini Mahat1, Li Wei Chiang2, Yong Chen2
1Division of Paediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Purpose:
Early diagnosis of biliary atresia (BA) is critical for best outcomes, but is challenged by overlapping clinical manifestations with other causes of obstructive jaundice in neonates. We evaluate the performance of the modified Simple BA Scoring System (SBASS) in diagnosing BA.
Methods:
We performed a prospective, cross-sectional study on infants with cholestatic jaundice (June 2021-December 2022). Modified SBASS scoring was applied and compared to the eventual diagnosis (as per intraoperative cholangiogram (IOC) and liver histopathology). The score (0-6), consists of gall bladder length < 1.6 cm (+ 1), presence of triangular cord sign (+ 1), conjugated bilirubin:total bilirubin ratio > 0.7(+ 2), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) ≥ 200 U/L (+ 2).
Results:
73 were included: Fifty-two (71%) had BA. In the non-BA group, 6 (28%) had percutaneous cholangiography (PTC) while 15 (72%) had intraoperative cholangiogram (IOC). At a cut-off of 3, the modified SBASS showed sensitivity of 96.2%, specificity of 61.9% and overall accuracy of 86.3% in diagnosing BA. Area under receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.901. GGT had the highest sensitivity (94.2%), while triangular cord sign showed the highest specificity at 95.2%.
Conclusion:
The SBASS provides a bedside, non-invasive scoring system for exclusion of BA in infantile cholestatic jaundice and reduces the likelihood of negative surgical explorations.
