Background: We reviewed the time taken for post-portoenterostomy (PE) biliary atresia (BA) patients to obtain jaundice–clearance (total bilirubin ≤ 1.2 mg/dL; JC) post-PE to determine if JC time (JCT) is prognostic for survival of the native liver (SNL).

Methods: The subjects were 66 BA patients treated with PE at our institute between 1989, the year when liver transplantation (LTx) became available in Japan, and 2014. JCT was used to create three groups (≤ 30 days: n = 14; 31–60 days: n = 31; ≥ 61 days: n = 21). Medical records were reviewed retrospectively to evaluate: age at onset of symptoms, duration of symptoms pre-PE, age and weight at PE, serum liver function tests, incidence of cholangitis, and micro-bile duct size at PE.

Results: Age at onset of symptoms, age and weight at PE, duration of symptoms pre-PE, and micro-bile duct size were similar for all patients in all three groups. JCT and SNL appeared to correlate because preoperative total bilirubin (7.1, 9.6, 10.2 mg/dL; P < 0.05) was significantly lower in the JCT ≤ 30 days group (P < 0.05) while there was a significant decrease in SNL (P < 0.03) and a significant increase in LTx (P < 0.01) in the JCT ≥ 61 days group. All LTx subjects who achieved JC were found to have developed cholangitis within 3 months of PE.