Sofia de los Angeles Angel Fund
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Sofy needs you!
Biliary atresia is a rare disease of the liver and bile ducts that occurs in infants. Symptoms of the disease appear or develop about two to eight weeks after birth.
When a baby has biliary atresia, bile flow from the liver to the gallbladder is blocked. This causes the bile to be trapped inside the liver, quickly causing damage and scarring of the liver cells (cirrhosis), and eventually liver failure.
The causes of biliary atresia are not completely understood. For some children, biliary atresia may occur because the bile ducts did not form properly during pregnancy. For other children with biliary atresia, the bile ducts may be damaged by the body's immune system in response to a viral infection acquired after birth.
Biliary atresia is a rare disorder. About one in 15,000 to 20,000 babies do not have complete bile ducts.
Biliary atresia seems to affect girls more than boys. Within the same family, it is common for only one child in a pair of twins or only one child within the same family to have the disease. Asians and African-Americans are affected more frequently than Caucasians.
Biliary atresia cannot be treated with medication. A Kasai procedure or hepatoportoenterostomy is done. The Kasai procedure is an operation to re-establish bile flow from the liver into the intestine. It is named after the surgeon who developed it.
The Kasai procedure is not a cure for biliary atresia, but it does allow babies to grow and have fairly good health for several, sometimes for many, years.
In 15-40 percent of patients the Kasai procedure does not work. If this is the case, liver transplantation can correct this problem.
Please help Sofy and her parents as they work through these difficult times; she has gone under the Kasai procedure and things did not work as expected. Now she is looking to get a liver transplant. At this time, she is trying to travel to Children's Hospital for a hope and a chance for a liver transplant which can cost up to $200,00 usd.
Sofy needs you!
Biliary atresia is a rare disease of the liver and bile ducts that occurs in infants. Symptoms of the disease appear or develop about two to eight weeks after birth.
When a baby has biliary atresia, bile flow from the liver to the gallbladder is blocked. This causes the bile to be trapped inside the liver, quickly causing damage and scarring of the liver cells (cirrhosis), and eventually liver failure.
The causes of biliary atresia are not completely understood. For some children, biliary atresia may occur because the bile ducts did not form properly during pregnancy. For other children with biliary atresia, the bile ducts may be damaged by the body's immune system in response to a viral infection acquired after birth.
Biliary atresia is a rare disorder. About one in 15,000 to 20,000 babies do not have complete bile ducts.
Biliary atresia seems to affect girls more than boys. Within the same family, it is common for only one child in a pair of twins or only one child within the same family to have the disease. Asians and African-Americans are affected more frequently than Caucasians.
Biliary atresia cannot be treated with medication. A Kasai procedure or hepatoportoenterostomy is done. The Kasai procedure is an operation to re-establish bile flow from the liver into the intestine. It is named after the surgeon who developed it.
The Kasai procedure is not a cure for biliary atresia, but it does allow babies to grow and have fairly good health for several, sometimes for many, years.
In 15-40 percent of patients the Kasai procedure does not work. If this is the case, liver transplantation can correct this problem.
Please help Sofy and her parents as they work through these difficult times; she has gone under the Kasai procedure and things did not work as expected. Now she is looking to get a liver transplant. At this time, she is trying to travel to Children's Hospital for a hope and a chance for a liver transplant which can cost up to $200,00 usd.
Organizer
Karla Cecilia Cardenas Alvarez
Organizer
Florence, KY