[Kasai's operation for extrahepatic bile duct atresia: a cure or palliative treatment?]

The only surgical treatment currently available for patients with extrahepatic biliary atresia is portoenterostomy or portocholecystostomy, the Kasai operation. Seventeen such patients were operated upon at the Hôpital Sainte-Justine; 11 had bile excretion. Eight are still alive 12 to 60 months after operation. They have good to fair bile excretion. Twelve of the 17 patients had infectious or hemorrhagic complications and hepatic deficiency is evident in 6 of the 8 living patients. The progressive deterioration of liver function in the majority of the patients still alive raises the question of whether the Kasai procedure should be considered a curative or only a palliative procedure.