The Japanese Biliary Atresia Society (JBAS) was founded in 1975. The first meeting was held in Sendai in August, with Professor Morio Kasai (Tohoku University) as the chairperson. At that time, a classification of biliary atresia was proposed, and it was completed at the second meeting in November 1975. The classification, called JSPS classification, was published in the Journal of the Japanese Society of Pediatric Surgeons (JSPS), vol 12(2) as “A proposal of new classification of biliary atresia” by Morio Kasai, et al. The third JBAS meeting was held in 1976, with Eizo Okamoto (Professor at the Hyogo College of Medicine) as the chairperson. Since then, the annual scientific meeting has been held at multiple locations in Japan.

Many physicians and researchers gather every year at the meeting and discuss every aspect of biliary atresia. The surgical outcome of biliary atresia has greatly improved with the contributions of the JBAS.

In 1989, the JBAS initiated the Japanese Biliary Atresia Registry (JBAR), consisting of the initial and follow-up registrations. The registration of liver transplants for biliary atresia has been included in the JBAR since 1995.

The short-term results are now very good, and most patients survive due to the combined strategy of Kasai portoenterostomy and liver transplantation. However, long-term problems have become apparent. Moreover, the etiology of biliary atresia is still unknown.

The JBAS will continue to work to resolve these issues and ultimately to overcome biliary atresia.

Japanese Biliary Atresia Society
Secretary General
Masaki Nio, MD, PhD
Professor and Chief of Pediatric Surgery
Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine

Japanese Biliary Atresia Society
Address: 1-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8574 Japan
TEL: +81-22-717-7237
FAX: +81-22-717-7240