title: National centralization of biliary atresia care to an assigned multidisciplinary team provides high-quality outcomes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Effects of caseload and organization of care on outcomes of biliary atresia (BA) remain unclear. We compared outcomes before and after national centralization of BA treatment in Finland with a population of 5.4 million people and 60,000 live births/year.
  
  
  METHODS
  All children born in Finland from 1987 to 2010 with BA were included. Complete patient identification was ascertained from the national Register of Congenital Malformations. Hospital records were reviewed for confirmation of the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up data. Clearance of jaundice (serum bilirubin ≤ 20 μmol/l) and survival modalities were compared before and after centralization from five centers to Helsinki.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence of BA was 1 in 20,100 live births. A total of 72 BA patients of whom 64 had undergone surgery for BA were identified. After centralization, the median caseload per center increased from 0 (range, 0-3) to 4 (2-5) patients/year (p < 0.001), clearance of jaundice rate increased from 27% to 75% (p = 0.001), 2-year jaundice-free native liver survival from 25% to 75% (p = 0.002), transplant-free survival from 27% to 75% (p = 0.005), and overall survival from 64% to 92% (p = 0.082). Baseline patient characteristics including type of BA and age at portoenterostomy remained unaltered. In a logistic regression analysis including treatment era, operating center, BA splenic malformation syndrome, and age at portoenterostomy as variables, only treatment in Helsinki after centralization predicted clearance of jaundice (odds ratio 4.2; 95% confidence interval 1.05-16.5; p = 0.043).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In small countries, BA treatment should be centralized to appointed multidisciplinary teams allowing high quality results with a median of four cases/year.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital, Helsinki University and Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. hanna.lampela@hus.fi
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lampela
authors.forename: Annukka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ritvanen
authors.forename: Silja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kosola
authors.forename: Antti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koivusalo
authors.forename: Risto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rintala
authors.forename: Hannu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jalanko
authors.forename: Mikko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pakarinen
mesh_terms: D001656:Biliary Atresia / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D041781:Jaundice, Obstructive / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011171:Portoenterostomy, Hepatic; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016896:Treatment Outcome