The Association Between Biliary Atresia and cytomegalovirus Infection

Perinatal infection of cytomegalovirus (CMV) may cause cholestasis resembling biliary atresia. CMV infection is found in patients with biliary atresia. This simultaneous occurrence of biliary atresia and CMV infection prompted speculation that CMV may contribute to the progression of biliary atresia. This report has the objective to obtain the evidence regarding the association between biliary atresia and CMV infection. Two databases were searched to obtain the evidence: PubMed and Scopus. The study design which was selected for this report was case control due to its relevance to answer the clinical question. There were two case control studies which are appropriate to answer the clinical question. Both studies showed that biliary atresia is associated with CMV infection (OR>1). Biliary atresia is associated with CMV infection at the time of diagnosis, therefore the presence of CMV infection in neonatal cholestasis should not delay the investigation towards biliary atresia.