Word: bileful
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...bile backing up in his liver would soon cause irreparable damage to that vital organ and affect others. The prognosis, at one of Manhattan's most famed university hospitals, was grim. Although operations for biliary atresia are performed in the U.S., the experts concluded that William's condition could not be corrected by surgery and that he probably would live no longer than nine months...
...child had one thing in his favor: he was less than 90 days old and his liver so far had suffered relatively little damage. As Suruga explained, after three months the backed-up bile is likely to cause irremediable cirrhosis of the liver. Another factor was most unfavorable: the bile ducts in the liver were the tiniest imaginable-averaging only one five-hundredth of an inch in diameter. Suruga is not hopeful unless they are twice that size, but he nevertheless decided to make the attempt...
...Only then was Suruga able to snip out an eight-inch section of jejunum (the upper part of the small intestine) and to fashion it into the shape of a U (see diagram). Next he trained his surgical microscope, working at 20-to 40-power magnification, on the minuscule bile ducts. He exposed them, and with incredibly fine needlework sewed one branch of the U over them like a funnel. He sutured the other branch of the U into the upper part of the duodenum, about where nature intended bile...
...temporary precaution, Suruga led the bend of the U to the abdominal wall and made an opening there; with hair-thin nylon threads running to it from inside the bile ducts to make sure that they stay open, this "window" can be used to draw off fluid or to instill medication. In a few months, if all goes well, the base of the U and the abdominal opening can be closed...
William was crying and kicking two hours after surgery. The next day, he was not producing enough bile, so a medication which enhances bile flow, cholestyramine, was flown from the U.S. to Tokyo for him. The output of the baby's digestive tract by late January showed that he was producing bile and that it was being used in the metabolism of the special formula that he was receiving in addition to mother's milk. Last week he was strong enough to make the long trip home...