OVERVIEW
This page is dedicated to organizing various examples of standardized exam questions whose answer is biliary atresia. While this may seem a odd practice, it is useful to see multiple examples of how biliary atresia will be characterized on standardized exams (namely the boards and the shelf exams). This page is not meant to be used as a traditional question bank (as all of the answers will be the same), however seeing the classic “test” characterization for a disease is quite valuable.
QUESTION EXAMPLES
Question # 1
A 3 week old male newborn is brought to the pediatrician because his mother has noticed that he has yellow skin and eyes. She explains that this yellow color has been getting more pronounced as time goes on. The mother is G2P2 and the pregnancy and delivery of the child were uncomplicated. The child was born 7 lb 1 oz and today he weights 7 lb 7 oz. A physical exam is remarkable for scleral icterus and generalized jaundice. The rest of the physical exam is non-contributory. The patient’s total bilirubin is 16 mg/dL and direct bilirubin is 14 mg/dL. What is the likely diagnosis?
Explanation: jaundice in newborn + direct bilirubinemia = biliary atresia
Page Updated: 01.23.2017