Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography of anatomic variants of the biliary tree in Taiwanese.
OBJECTIVE
Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) is a non-invasive method for evaluating the hepatobiliary system. This study investigated the anatomic variants of the biliary tree in Taiwanese using MRCP.


METHODS
170 patients with abdominal or liver diseases underwent diagnostic MRCP over the 29-month study period. We identified the type of biliary tree variants in 130 patients.


RESULTS
The imaging findings showed that the most common biliary tree variants were type I and type IIA, which together comprised 70% of all variants. Type I is a triple confluence, which is an anatomy characterized by simultaneous emptying of the right posterior segment duct, right anterior segment duct, and left hepatic duct into the common hepatic duct. Type IIA involves drainage of the right posterior segment duct into the right anterior segment duct to form the right hepatic duct, and then confluence with the left hepatic duct to form the common hepatic duct. There was a mean percentage of 10 to 20% among the 7 types of variants identified.


CONCLUSIONS
Comparison of these findings with previous investigation indicates that biliary tract structure shows racial and ethnic variation.
Lee
Chi-Ming
CM
Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Chen
Hsin-Chi
HC
Leung
Ting-Kai
TK
Chen
Ya-Yen
YY
D001652:Bile Ducts / Q000473:pathology*; D001660:Biliary Tract Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D002760:Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D013624:Taiwan