Early life growth and developmental trajectory in children with biliary atresia undergoing primary liver transplantation

To clarify the early growth and developmental characteristics of children with biliary atresia (BA) undergoing primary liver transplantation (pLT). A prospective cohort study, which specifically focused on BA-pLT children, was conducted after the diagnosis of BA by following the children at the time of pLT and 1, 3, 5, 7 months and 1 year after pLT for growth and developmental monitoring. The growth parameters were calculated according to the WHO standard, and the developmental status was assessed using Denver Developmental Screening Tests. A total of 48 BA children who received pLT at the age of 5.00 ± 0.94 months were analyzed. The weight-for-age value ( ) and length-for-age -value ( ) were higher than the head circumference-for-age value ( ) at pLT ( = 0.002 and 0.02), but they were all lower than the WHO growth standard ( = 0) (