Biliary atresia screening: A picture is worth a thousand words

The Infant Stool Colour Card (ISCC), used for biliary atresia (BA) screening in Ontario, was in the news earlier this month: 

https://london.ctvnews.ca/video/c2903294-newborn-screening-tool-saves-life-of-london-baby 

The last full week of April is National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week. BA is the leading cause of liver transplant and liver related death in children. Babies with this rare disease usually appear healthy at birth; as the disease progresses, bile cannot drain from the liver into the intestine. Bile is what gives stool its distinctive colour. Babies with BA can develop pale or whitish stools in the first month of life.  

Newborn Screening Ontario (NSO) coordinates the BA screening program for babies born in Ontario. Parents are given the ISCC by their birth hospital or midwifery practice group. Using the card, families monitor their infant’s stool for the first four weeks of life (or four weeks from their due date, whichever is later). If an abnormal pale stool colour (#1-6 on the ISCC) is found, families should contact NSO via one of the methods listed on the card. 

Early identification and intervention for this disease is the key to better outcomes. Together we are making a difference in the lives of babies with BA.