Clinical and laboratory evaluation of 101 patients with intrahepatic neonatal cholestasis

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Intrahepatic neonatal cholestasis can be the initial manifestation of a very heterogeneous group of illnesses of different etiologies. AIM: To evaluate and compare clinical and laboratory data among intrahepatic neonatal cholestasis groups of infectious, genetic-endocrine-metabolic and idiopathic etiologies. METHODS: The study evaluated retrospectively clinical and laboratory data of 101 infants, from March 1982 to December 2005, 84 from the State University of Campinas Teaching Hospital, Campinas, SP, Brazil, and 17 from the Child’s Institute of the University of São Paulo, SP, Brazil. The inclusion criteria consisted of: jaundice beginning at up to 3 months of age and hepatic biopsy during the 1st year of life. It had been evaluated: clinical findings (gender, age, birth weight, weight during the first medical visit, stature at birth, jaundice, acholia/hipocholia, choluria, hepatomegaly and splenomegaly) and laboratorial (ALT, AST, FA, GGT, INR). RESULTS: According to diagnosis, patients were classified into three groups: group 1 (infectious) n = 24, group 2 (genetic-endocrine-metabolic) n = 21 and group 3 (idiopathic) n = 56. There were no significant differences in relation to the variables: age, gender, stature at birth, jaundice, acholia/hipocholia, choluria, hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, AST, ALT, ALP, GGT, DB and albumin. Significant differences were observed in relation to the following variables: birth weight and weight during the first medical visit. Birth weight of group 1 was lower in relation group 2 and 3. Weight during the first medical visit followed the same pattern. There was a statistically significant difference in relation to the INR, as the patients of the group 2 presented higher values in relation to groups 2 and 3, despite the median was still pointing out normal values. CONCLUSIONS: There were no significant differences in relation to age, gender, stature at birth, jaundice, acholia/hipocholia, choluria, hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, AST, ALT, ALP, GGT, BD and albumin. Birth weight and the weight during the first medical visit were lower in the group with infectious etiology. In addition, a significant difference in INR reflected impaired coagulation of patients of the group of the genetic-endocrine-metabolic disease.