Abstract
Objective: The etiology of biliary atresia is unclear, but viral infection has been implicated. The aim of the current meta-analysis was to investigate relationships between cytomegalovirus (CMV) and the prognosis of biliary atresia.Methods: PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure database, and Wanfang Data electronic databases were searched for eligible studies. Each relevant text was thoroughly reviewed and examined, including related papers in their reference lists.Results: A total of nine studies including 784 patients were included in the analysis. Biliary atresia patients with CMV exhibited significantly lower jaundice clearance (odds ratio: 0.46, p < 0.0001; I2 = 15%, p = 0.31). There were no significant differences in the rates of cholangitis or native liver survival. CMV-pp65-positive biliary atresia patients had a significantly lower rate of jaundice clearance (odds ratio: 5.87, p = 0.003; I2 = 0%, p = 0.71) and a significantly higher rate of cholangitis (odds ratio: 0.21, p = 0.01; I2 = 0%, p = 0.43) than CMV antibody-positive biliary atresia patients.Conclusion: Biliary atresia patients who were also infected with CMV had a poorer prognosis, particularly with respect to jaundice clearance. CMV status may influence the prognosis of biliary atresia. Clinicians should be able to routinely identify the subset of biliary atresia patients who are also CMV-positive, in order to improve native liver survival.
Highlights
Biliary atresia (BA) is a destructive and obliterative cholangiopathy that occurs in infants
The present study aimed to investigate outcomes in patients with CMV-associated BA after Kasai portoenterostomy (KPE)
Three studies reported jaundice clearance within 3 months (Figure 2B)
Summary
Biliary atresia (BA) is a destructive and obliterative cholangiopathy that occurs in infants. It involves both the extra-hepatic and the intra-hepatic bile ducts, and it is characterized by progressive inflammation and fibrosis of the biliary tree (1). Evidence of CMV infection has been reported in 10–38% of infants with BA in series from England, Germany, Brazil, and Sweden, but up to 60% in China (4, 6, 8). In a series of studies, CMV-associated BA patients exhibited poor outcomes, but other studies have yielded inconsistent results. These inconsistences may be due to the relatively small sample sizes involved. The present study aimed to investigate outcomes in patients with CMV-associated BA after KPE
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
