Variation in the course of vessels in the vicinity of the hepatic port in biliary atresia.

Among 114 patients with biliary atresia, the type of obstruction of the extrahepatic bile duct and the course of the hepatic artery, cystic artery, and portal vein were determined and analyzed from the view point of their mutual relationships and in comparison with postoperative bile excretion. As a result, the following findings characteristic of biliary atresia were obtained: (1) The course and location of the extrahepatic bile duct did not deviate greatly from normal conditions, excluding some exceptional cases, but the site of the origin of the cystic artery differed from that in normal cases. (2) The pattern of the course of the vessels varied among different types of obstruction of the extrahepatic bile duct. (3) There was a difference in postoperative bile excretion in relation to the type of obstruction of the extrahepatic bile duct, the course of the vessels, and their combinations.