Objective To investigate the value of the shear wave elastography ( SWE) in the diagnosis of biliary atresia ( BA ) in infants by ultrasonography . Methods SWE was used to measure the liver stiffness measurement( LSM ) of 138 infants . Following surgical or pathological diagnosis ,the infants were subclassified into BA and non-biliary atresia ( non-BA ) groups . ROC analysis was used to determine the sensitivity and specificity of LSM ,the ultrasonic findings in the differential diagnosis of suspected BA ,and the cut-off value to diagnose BA . Results Of the 138 infants with cholestatic hepatitis ,51 were diagnosed as BA group and 87 cases were assigned to the non-BA group . The ROC analysis showed the cut-off value of LSM for diagnosis of biliary atresia in children with jaundice was 12 .35 kPa ,the AUC was 0 .936 ,and the sensitivity and specificity were 84 .3% and 89 .7% ,respectively .In the parallel test ,the triangular cord ( TC) sign combined with abnormal gallbladder ( AbGB) had the best diagnostic performance in all patients . However ,in patients older than 30 days ,the LSM combined with TC had the best AUC ( 0 .987 ) and diagnostic performance( 98 .6% ) like with TC combined with AbGB . Conclusions Both SWE and gray scale ultrasound have higher diagnostic performance for BA . LSM can be used as a valuable index for diagnosing BA by ultrasound .