Etiology of the obstructive pattern in hepatobiliary imaging.

The records of all patients undergoing hepatobiliary imaging at our hospital from January 1980 to March 1983 were reviewed and 29 scans met the criteria for a pattern consistent with complete biliary tract obstruction. Biliary tract obstruction (due to choledocholithiasis, primary or secondary carcinoma involving the common bile duct, and pancreatitis) was documented in 24 of these patients. However, the remaining five patients had a patent common bile duct, and the etiologic factor was intrahepatic cholestasis secondary to sepsis in four and peritonitis in one. A classification of altered biliary dynamics in hepatobiliary imaging, which is based on the classification of jaundice, is proposed.