MCT Retrospective Review

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Retrospective medical records review to investigate the association between medium-chain triglyceride supplementation with growth, nutritional status and clinical outcomes in children with biliary atresia

• IRAS ID

  312042

• Contact name

  Sara Mancell

• Contact email

  sara.mancell@nhs.net

• Sponsor organisation

  King's College London

• Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

  n/a, n/a

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 9 months, 31 days

• Research summary

  Biliary atresia is a rare disease of the bile ducts that carry bile from the liver to the intestine. Surgery is needed in the first 12 weeks of life to restore the flow of bile. Despite this, half of babies with biliary atresia will eventually need a liver transplant. As bile is needed to digest fat, children with biliary atresia may not absorb enough fat and can become malnourished. To help prevent malnutrition and help children to grow, medium-chain fat is given as an energy source. Medium-chain fat (also known as medium-chain triglycerides or MCT) is a special fat that can be absorbed even when there is no bile available. Children are given anywhere from 30% to 75% of their total fat intake as medium-chain fat with the remainder being regular fat.

  What is the problem?
  Medium-chain fats are used widely in the NHS but there is no agreement on how much to give.

  Has research been done?
  Limited research has focused on how medium-chain fats affect fat absorption and growth in children with liver disease.

  What do we want to know?
  How does medium-chain fat supplementation affect growth, nutritional status and outcomes in children with biliary atresia?

  What is our study?
  We will examine the medical records of 200 children with biliary atresia that we have previously looked after, many of whom received different amounts of medium-chain fats. We will investigate whether the amount of medium-chain fat that was given was associated with growth, nutritional status and outcomes in the two years after diagnosis.

  How will patients benefit?
  Through better understanding medium-chain fats we could improve the growth and nutritional status of children with biliary atresia and help avoid later medical complications.

• REC name

  North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1

• REC reference

  23/NS/0009

• Date of REC Opinion

  11 Jan 2023

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion