title: The value of magnetic resonance cholangiography in the preoperative assessment of living liver donors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of magnetic resonance cholangiography (MRC) in the depiction of biliary anatomy of living liver donors by using intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) as a gold standard.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between 2004 and 2006, 86 potential adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation donors had preoperative MRC at our institution. Of these, 24 potential donors were excluded due to various clinical factors. A total of 62 of these individuals were selected for liver donation and included in the study. MRC was performed on a 1.5-T scanner with breath-hold, rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement (RARE) sequence with half-Fourier acquisition (HASTE; Siemens) and free-breathing, three-dimensional turbo spin-echo sequence with respiratory triggering. Thin- and thick-slab imaging techniques were employed with half-Fourier RARE MRC. IOC was performed in all 63 cases. The images of IOC and MRC were classified according to a modified Huang classification, independently. The results of the MRC were then compared with the IOC results.
  
  
  RESULTS
  IOC was used as the reference standard; a total of 43 (69.3%) liver donors were considered to have normal biliary anatomy, whereas 19 (30.7%) were considered to have variants of biliary anatomy. Compared with IOC, MRC correctly revealed biliary anatomy in 59 of 62 (95.1%) donors. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of MRC in distinguishing normal and any type of variant biliary anatomy were 84.2%, 100%, 100%, and 93.4%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MRC is an effective imaging technique for the preoperative evaluation of the biliary anatomy in living liver donors. However, MRC and IOC should be considered complementary to one another in order to avoid complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Florence Nightingale Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sirvanci
authors.forename: Cihan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Duran
authors.forename: Ersin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ozturk
authors.forename: Deniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Balci
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dayangaç
authors.forename: Levent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Onat
authors.forename: Yildiray
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yüzer
authors.forename: Yaman
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tokat
authors.forename: Refik
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Killi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D049448:Cholangiopancreatography, Magnetic Resonance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D019520:Living Donors; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011300:Preoperative Care