eMedicine Specialties > Pediatrics: General Medicine > Gastroenterology

Alagille Syndrome: Follow-up

Author: Ann Scheimann, MD, MBA, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Nutrition and Gastroenterology, Baylor College of Medicine and Johns Hopkins Medical Institution
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: Oct 22, 2009

Follow-up

Further Inpatient Care

  • Patients may require inpatient treatment for nutritional support, cardiovascular disease, and chronic liver disease.
  • Patients with evidence of undernutrition and failure of conservative measures may benefit from gastrostomy placement for initiation of nocturnal drip feedings.
  • Patients may require cardiac catheterization and cardiac or vascular surgery/procedures for significant symptomatic lesions.
  • Complications of chronic liver disease, including variceal hemorrhage, refractory ascites, and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (as well as development of hepatocellular carcinoma), occur in patients with Alagille syndrome and long-standing liver involvement. These patients merit strong consideration for liver transplantation.

Further Outpatient Care

  • Monitor patient's nutritional status. Screen patients for fat-soluble vitamin deficiencies.
  • Consultation with a pediatric cardiologist for management of structural cardiac or vascular disease, and hyperlipidemia is advised.
  • Manage chronic cholestatic liver disease, including pruritus, cirrhosis and portal hypertension, ascites, and screening for hepatocellular carcinoma, when appropriate.
  • Manage chronic renal disease.

Transfer

  • Patients with Alagille syndrome and significant cardiovascular or hepatic disease merit consultation with a subspecialist.
  • Consider transferring patient if signs of decompensation are evident upon presentation or if they are likely to evolve during hospitalization; patient also must be stable for transfer.

Deterrence/Prevention

  • Patients with significant intracardiac disease require subacute bacterial endocarditis (SBE) prophylaxis. Consider trials of bile acid-binding resins (eg, cholestyramine) to those with significant hyperlipidemia and pruritus.
  • Supplementation of fat-soluble vitamins, alteration in dietary intake (higher carbohydrate/medium chain triglyceride), and immunizations (hepatitis B, hepatitis A, Pneumovax) may minimize the development of complications of cholestatic chronic liver disease.

Complications

  • Hepatic complications arise from cholestasis and cirrhosis. Infants may present with neonatal jaundice. Jaundice resolves by age 2 years or cholestasis persists. Unrecognized deficiencies of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) can contribute to morbidity (eg, osteopenia, hemolytic anemia) and mortality (eg, intracranial hemorrhage, aberrant intracerebral vessels secondary to abnormal notch or JAG1 expression) from bleeding events. Severe intractable pruritus occurs in many children with Alagille syndrome, prompting consideration for liver transplantation. Several patients have developed hepatocellular carcinoma in early adulthood.
  • Major contributors to morbidity arise from bile duct paucity or cholestatic liver disease, underlying cardiac disease, and renal disease.
  • Structural cardiac disease and hyperlipidemia or atherosclerosis contribute to morbidity and mortality of Alagille syndrome. Cardiac murmurs are noted in fewer than 95% of patients. Structural anomalies associated with Alagille syndrome range from mild peripheral pulmonic stenosis to severe tetralogy of Fallot. Aneurysms and stenotic lesions have been described within the arterial system (eg, carotids, aorta, renal), as has the development of changes similar to Moyamoya disease. Hyperlipidemia commonly is manifested as xanthomas. Patients have high levels of plasma cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and apoprotein B, predisposing to the development of atherosclerosis.
  • Structural renal disease as well as glomerulosclerosis and nephrosclerosis have been described in patients with Alagille syndrome. Renal anomalies include renal artery stenosis, ectopic kidney, single kidney, and ureteral duplications. The development of glomerulosclerosis in patients with Alagille syndrome has been attributed to hypercholesterolemia and lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) deficiency, as well as stimulation of excessive production of extracellular matrix. One patient has been reported to require renal transplantation.

Prognosis

  • Cardiac disease and liver disease can significantly impact the life expectancy of patients with Alagille syndrome; presence of hepatic disease also alters life expectancy.
  • Patients with more significant cardiovascular anomalies (tetralogy of Fallot, pulmonary atresia [PA] with ventricular septal defect [VSD], atrial septal defect [ASD]/VSD, patent ductus arteriosus [PDA]) eventually require cardiac surgery. The 20-year predicted survival rate via Kaplan-Meier plots for individuals with significant intracardiac lesions is 40%; for those individuals without significant intracardiac lesions, the survival rate is 80%.

Patient Education

Miscellaneous

Medicolegal Pitfalls

  • Failure to exclude the possibility of biliary atresia in the cholestatic infant with presumed Alagille syndrome
  • Failure to recognize and treat fat-soluble vitamin deficiencies to minimize complications
  • Failure to appropriately evaluate for cardiac murmurs, cerebrovascular symptoms and hypertension
  • Failure to screen for possible malignancy (hepatocellular carcinoma) in the older patient with long-standing liver disease
 


More on Alagille Syndrome

Overview: Alagille Syndrome
Differential Diagnoses & Workup: Alagille Syndrome
Treatment & Medication: Alagille Syndrome
Follow-up: Alagille Syndrome
Multimedia: Alagille Syndrome
References

References

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Further Reading

Keywords

Alagille syndrome, AS, Alagille's syndrome, Alagille-Watson syndrome, arteriohepatic dysplasia, syndromic bile duct paucity, pulmonary valvular stenosis, hypoplasia of the hepatic ducts, mental retardation, treatment, diagnosis

Contributor Information and Disclosures

Author

Ann Scheimann, MD, MBA, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Nutrition and Gastroenterology, Baylor College of Medicine and Johns Hopkins Medical Institution
Ann Scheimann, MD, MBA is a member of the following medical societies: North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Medical Editor

Robert Baldassano, MD, Director, Center for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania
Robert Baldassano, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Gastroenterological Association, and North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Pharmacy Editor

Mary L Windle, PharmD, Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy, Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine
Disclosure: Pfizer Inc Stock Investment from financial planner; Avanir Pharma Stock Investment from financial planner ; WebMD Salary and stock Employment and investment from financial planner

CME Editor

Steven M Schwarz, MD, FAAP, FACN, AGAF, Professor of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital at Downstate, SUNY-Downstate Medical Center
Steven M Schwarz, MD, FAAP, FACN, AGAF is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Nutrition, American College of Physician Executives, American Gastroenterological Association, American Pediatric Society, Gastroenterology Research Group, New York Academy of Medicine, North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, and Society for Pediatric Research
Disclosure: TAP Pharmaceuticals Honoraria Speaking and teaching; Curemark, LLC Consulting fee Board membership; Centocor, Inc. Grant/research funds Independent contractor

Chief Editor

Carmen Cuffari, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology/Nutrition, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Carmen Cuffari, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Gastroenterology, American Gastroenterological Association, North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

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