Hepatic Changes in Young Infants with Cystic Fibrosis: Possible Relation to Focal Biliary Cirrhosis

Focal biliary cirrhosis is an uncommon finding in infants with cystic fibrosis, but it is present in more than a fifth of surviving children and adolescents. It was found at postmortem examination in only five of 47 infants with CF younger than 3 months, in five of 32 infants from 3 to 12 months, and in 18 of 67 children older than 1 year. In infants under 3 months, excessive mucus in intrahepatic bile ducts was seen in 11 necropsies; in 15 others there were only nonspecific periportal changes. Cholestasis was found in the livers of 18 of the 26 infants. Excessive mucus in the biliary tree was occasionally associated with periportal changes and cholestasis in older infants. The periportal changes, which are regarded as nonspecific, were never found in infants more than 1 year of age.