Neonatal cholestasis : clinical and aetiological aspects, with special reference to viral infections transmitted from mother to infant

Although the list of possible causes for neonatal cholestasis is long, in many cases the aetiology remains unknown. The aim of this thesis was to examine the pathogenetic role of viral infections in the early infantile cholestasis. Fifty-nine cholestatic infants, of whom 21 had extrahepatic biliary atresia (EHBA), were examined for a large number of viral infections. Serum samples from their mothers and from controls of pregnant women and of noncholestatic infants were included. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) IgM was more often detected in infants with EHBA (8/21=38%) and with intrahepatic cholestasis (I 1/38=29%) than in controls (2/35=6%, p<0.01). The rate of CMV-IgG positive mothers was higher than in controls (94% v.s. 75%, p