American Liver Foundation Offers Information and Support for Families Coping With Biliary Artresia

NEW YORK, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Fox News homeland security correspondent Catherine Herridge is in surgery today to donate part of her liver to her infant son, Peter, who was born in December with a liver condition known as biliary atresia. The surgery is expected to last 10 hours at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Both mother and son face about two months of recovery after the surgery.

Approximately 15,000 young children in the United States suffer from some form of liver disease, and every year approximately 300 children under the age of 5 requires a liver transplant. One of the more common forms of pediatric liver diseases is biliary artresia, a serious disease of the young infant affecting one out of every 9,000 births. The cause is unknown and results in inflammation and obstruction of the ducts, which carry bile from the liver into the intestine.

The American Liver Foundation, the nation's leading nonprofit organization for promoting liver health and disease prevention, is working to educate the American public about this serious illness. "People tend to ignore the importance of a healthy liver," said Fred Suchy, MD, Chairman and Professor of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine of New York University, and a member of the board of directors of the American Liver Foundation. "Unfortunately most people do not focus on the health of their liver until confronted by a serious liver disease that either affects themselves or a family member, biliary atresia is particularly devastating to a family because it impacts newborn children."

  Some important facts about biliary artresia:
  * The symptoms of biliary atresia are usually evident between two and six
    weeks after birth. The baby will appear jaundiced, and may develop a
    large, hardened liver and a swollen abdomen.
  * There is no cure for biliary atresia.
  * The only treatment for the disease is an operation called the Kasai
    procedure in which the surgeon removes the damaged ducts outside of the
    liver and replaces them with a length of the baby's own intestine. When
    done before 60 days of age, the procedure successfully restores bile
    flow in about 80% of cases, but liver transplantation is eventually
    required in most patients.

The American Liver Foundation recognizes that parents of children with biliary atresia need help in coping with the immense strain of this chronic illness. To meet this need, the American Liver Foundation is continually organizing and coordinating mutual help groups through its 25 chapters around the country, to provide emotional support for families, making referrals to specialists where appropriate, and keeping people aware of the latest research developments.

For more information about biliary artresia as well as other liver diseases and to learn more about liver wellness, please contact the American Liver Foundation at 1-800-GO-LIVER or at http://www.liverfoundation.org/.

About the American Liver Foundation

The American Liver Foundation is the nation's leading nonprofit organization promoting liver health and disease prevention. ALF provides research, education, and advocacy for those affected by liver-related diseases, including hepatitis.