title: Cholestasis in newborn infants with perinatal asphyxia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to characterize the liver involvement in infants who have both neonatal asphyxia and neonatal cholestasis.
  
  
  METHODS
  We describe four asphyctic newborn infants (three born at term) who developed early (age 3.8 +/- 2.1 days) intrahepatic neonatal cholestasis and in whom tests for causes of neonatal liver damage were negative.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The clinical picture and course were benign and similar to that of sporadic "idiopathic" neonatal hepatitis. Clinical signs and abnormal liver function tests tended to normalize within the first year of life in all. Conjugated bilirubin became normal at 6 months after the onset of cholestasis, while liver enzymes tended towards normal values thereafter, within 1 year of follow-up. Liver biopsy (taken in one patient) showed a typical picture of giant cell hepatitis; ultrastructure was nonspecific.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that isolated asphyxia should be taken into account as a potential causal factor in term or pre-term asphyctic newborns who develop early "idiopathic" neonatal cholestasis.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Pediatria, Universitá di Napoli Federico II, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vajro
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amelio
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stagni
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paludetto
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Genovese
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giuffré
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: DeCurtis
mesh_terms: D001238:Asphyxia Neonatorum / Q000150:complications*; D002780:Cholestasis, Intrahepatic / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male