Cholescintigraphy of children with prolonged neonatal jaundice

ABSTRACT

To find the cause of neonatal jaundice in patients of up to 1 year of age, referred to Nuclear Medical Centre, AFIP Rawalpindi. Patients of jaundice up to 1 year of age referred by paediatricians from Military Hospitals were subjected to radionuclide cholescintigraphy at Nuclear Medical Centre, AFIP, Rawalpindi. The pattern noted was that 41% cases were scintigraphically positive for biliary atresia, 37% cases were found to be negative for it. Sixteen percent of the cases showed scintigraphic evidence of parenchymal liver disease and the possibility of biliary atresia could not be completely ruled out in these patients. Interestingly 6% of the cases were noted to be inconclusive though they were suffering from jaundice. The female to male ratio were 11.5, 16, and 11.6 for biliary atresia, negative for biliary atresia and parenchymal liver disease respectively. The cause of neonatal jaundice in most cases was biliary atresia and the frequency in males was higher as compared to female patients