Biliary tree not connected to digestive system, no opening into the digestive tract describes which pathology?

Biliary tree not connected to digestive system, no opening into the digestive tract describes which pathology?

• A. Choledochal cyst Type III
• B. Biliary Atresia
• C. Caroli Disease
• D. Acute Cholecystitis

Answer: (B)

Biliary atresia is the condition where the extrahepatic bile ducts are absent or obliterated, so bile has no pathway to drain into the intestine. This creates no opening from the biliary tree into the digestive tract. In newborns, this presents as persistent jaundice after birth with pale stools and dark urine, and the liver becomes enlarged due to cholestasis. On ultrasound you may see an absent or nonvisualized extrahepatic duct and, near the liver’s porta hepatis, a fibrous remnant known as the triangular cord sign. Hepatobiliary imaging often shows no bile excretion into the gut. If drainage isn’t restored, ongoing obstruction leads to progressive liver damage and cirrhosis; treatment typically involves a Kasai portoenterostomy to establish bile drainage or, if needed, liver transplantation. Choledochal cysts involve dilation of the biliary tree and usually communicate with the digestive tract; Caroli disease is dilation of intrahepatic ducts with continued connection to the biliary tree; acute cholecystitis is inflammation of the gallbladder, not a congenital failure of biliary drainage.

Biliary atresia is the condition where the extrahepatic bile ducts are absent or obliterated, so bile has no pathway to drain into the intestine. This creates no opening from the biliary tree into the digestive tract. In newborns, this presents as persistent jaundice after birth with pale stools and dark urine, and the liver becomes enlarged due to cholestasis. On ultrasound you may see an absent or nonvisualized extrahepatic duct and, near the liver’s porta hepatis, a fibrous remnant known as the triangular cord sign. Hepatobiliary imaging often shows no bile excretion into the gut. If drainage isn’t restored, ongoing obstruction leads to progressive liver damage and cirrhosis; treatment typically involves a Kasai portoenterostomy to establish bile drainage or, if needed, liver transplantation. Choledochal cysts involve dilation of the biliary tree and usually communicate with the digestive tract; Caroli disease is dilation of intrahepatic ducts with continued connection to the biliary tree; acute cholecystitis is inflammation of the gallbladder, not a congenital failure of biliary drainage.