Time‐course changes in the liver of biliary atresia patients on magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), changes in the livers of postoperative biliary atresia (BA) patients were investigated. Periodic MRI was performed in 32 postoperative BA patients. The findings were evaluated by calculating the near-normal liver tissue area that corresponded with normal- or high-signal regions on T1-weighted imaging. The patients were divided into three groups based on the extent of near-normal liver tissue on the final MRI: group A, n = 14; group B, n = 13; and group C, n = 5, included patients with >40%, 20-40%, and 40% area of near-normal liver architecture at the initial stages did not require OLDLT, while those with <20% area did require OLDLT.