[Biliary atresia: pathogenetic considerations emerging from the histopathologic analysis of the liver parenchyma]

Nine patients had been surgically treated for extrahepatic biliary atresia from 1974 to 1982. The analysis of the hepatic specimens obtained during the surgical exploration revealed a wide spectrum of histopathologic lesions. In 3 patients we found severe Giant-cell transformation, while in the other 6 it was not possible to ascribe the histopathologic picture to a univocal pathogenesis. Comparing our results to the reports of other Authors we believe biliary atresia can not be explained by a single pathologic mechanism. The obstruction of the extrahepatic bile ducts might be the common morphologic denominator of different pathologic entities, from each of them it depends a different evolution of the hepatic lesions and a different survival after Kasai's operation.