Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 1997, 181 (1)

Assessment of Nutritional Status of Postoperative Patients with Biliary Atresia

CHIZUKO SHIGA1, RYOJI OHI1, TOSHIO CHIBA1, MASAKI NIO1, NAOBUMI ENDO1, SETSUKO MITO2 and MIYOKO HINO2

1Department of Pediatric Surgery and 2Division of Nutrition, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai 980-77

  • Some patients of biliary atresia (BA) suffer from chronic hepatic dysfunction and/or persistent jaundice. The adverse effects of chronic liver disease on nutrition and growth should be considered on BA patients. We studied 45 BA patients ranging in age from 0.5 to 38 years and divided them into 2 groups. Group A contains the patients whose total bilirubin >= 2 mg/100ml, and Group B contains the patients whose total bilirubin < 2 mg/100ml. We measured height, weight, triceps skin fold (TSF), midarm circumference (MAC) and midarm muscle area (MAMA). Visceral protein kinetics was evaluated on the basis of serum albumin and prealbumin levels. Caloric and protein intake was calculated by collecting intake data for 3 days. The results of this study were; 1) The mean TSF in Group A (47th percentile) was not significantly different from that in Group B (53th percentile). 2) The mean MAMA was significantly lower (p<0.01) in Group A (16.4th percentile) than in Group B (36.7th percentile) 3) The prealbumin level was significantly lower (p< 0.001) in Group A (mean 9.9 mg/100ml) than in Group B (mean 18.8 mg/100ml). The authors conclude that the evaluation of MAMA and prealbumin were very useful to characterize the low metabolic status of protein in the damaged liver. And repeated nutritional assessment was necessary to evaluate liver function and provide adequate nutrition in BA patients.
    Key word(s)--- nutritional assessment; biliary atresia; liver function

    Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 1997, 181, 217-223
    Address for reprints: Ryoji Ohi, M.D., Department of Pediatric Surgery, Tohoku University School of Medicine, 1-1 Seiryomachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-77, Japan.

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