Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography of anatomic variants of the biliary tree in Taiwanese.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

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.

CONCLUSION

Comparison of these findings with previous investigation indicates that biliary tract structure shows racial and ethnic variation.