Abstract:
Objective To describe the prevalence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in Chinese children with biliary atresia (BA), and explore the clinical characteristics of CMV IgM-positive and CMV IgM-negative BA.
Methods From March 2007 to December 2021, 281 BA infants treated with Kasai surgery from Xinhua Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine were recruited in this study.Clinical data of BA patients, including age at surgery, gender, month of birth, CMV IgM results, and liver biochemical indicators were collected.The prevalence of CMV infection in BA patients was retrospectively analyzed.Clinical data collected between CMV IgM-positive and CMV IgM-negative BA patients were compared.
Results Among the 281 infants with BA, 106 cases (37.72%) were CMV IgM positive at presentation.CMV IgM positive infants (72.5 d63-86 d) were older than CMV IgM-negative BA infants (59 d47-69 d, P < 0.000 1).13.21% of CMV IgM-positive infants were born in November, which was significantly higher than that of CMV IgM-negative infants (5.71%, P=0.029 4).Although the birth prevalence rate from November through January was 1.6 times higher than that from June through August, there was no significant seasonal variation of CMV IgM-positive BA.Univariate analysis showed that the levels of bile acid, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, total bilirubin, and direct bilirubin in CMV IgM-positive BA patients were higher than those in CMV IgM-negative BA patients, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05).No significant correlation was found between the liver biochemical indicators and CMV IgM value.
Conclusions The incidence of CMV IgM-positive BA in this study is 37.72%.The birth prevalence rate of BA is highest in November, but no evidence for significant seasonal variation is found.Compared with CMV IgM-negative BA, CMV IgM-positive BA patients are older at the time of surgery and have higher levels of bile acid, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, total bilirubin, and direct bilirubin.