An introduction to Research | Current research funded by CLDF | Epidemiology of biliary atresia in the UK

Epidemiology of biliary atresia in the UK

Mr Mark Davenport, King’s College Hospital, London

Biliary atresia (BA) is a potentially devastating disease that presents in newborn infants with persistent jaundice and pale stools and if untreated leads to liver failure and death. It is rare with an incidence estimated at about 1 in 15,000 live births in the UK and is the commonest indication for liver transplantation in children.  The cause of the disease is not known, although it is likely that some (10-20%) are true developmental abnormalities present at birth (because of other associated abnormalities). In others there has been speculation that it is due to secondary destruction (possibly virus-induced) of a fully developed biliary system at or around the time of birth. 

The management of biliary atresia in England and Wales has been centralised since January 1999 to only three supraregional centres (Davenport et al. 2004). This is unique to the UK and gives an unprecedented opportunity for complete epidemiological data capture.

Previously, epidemiological study of BA has been limited by its rarity and difficulty in case definition. The main research question is to try and define the distribution of the disease within England and Wales and evaluate evidence for possible time-space or racial clustering.

Budget:

 

	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Total	Indicate items to be funded by CLDF
a) Staff
c) Consumables
d) Publicity and dissemination (production of information materials, project reports etc)
e) Training for staff
f) Research supervision
g) Travel and subsistence	400				yes
h) Recruitment Costs
i) Data analysis costs	100				yes
j) Equipment *
TOTAL Project Costs	500

Project: June 07