Choledocopancreatography with MR (MRCP)

Introduction & Background: Previous invasive inves-tigations in pancreatobiliary system like PTC and ERCP are replaced by noninvasive complementary procedures like MRCP, and ultrasonography. Here we have used images from ducts and the parenchyma. Patients & Methods: We used an MR machine with a 1.5 tesla magnet. Oral pineapple juice was used to suppress water signal in the duodenal loop. Results: Sixty-eight patients were admitted, 28 men and 40 women. Mean age was 48, with oldest and youngest of 83 and 15, respectively. We found 14 normal MRCPs, 14 cases of stones in GB, 10 cases of CBD stones, and 6 cases of mass or neoplasm. Rare cases included 6 patients with collapsed bile ducts or sclerosing cholangitis, one case of cirrhosis due to hemosidrosis, 1 case of liver capsule fistula, very large biliary tree with no malignancy in 5 cases, and 1 case of fluid bens sign in CBD stone. Stone distribution was as follows: 2 cases of distal CBD, 3 cases of duct stones, GB stones in 14 cases, 2 cases of right and 1 of left duct, and 3 cases of CHD stone. In 59 cases, vir-sung was demonstrated, 58 of which were normal and one was dilated. Conclusion: MRCP is a fast and easy method of dif-ferentiating benign and malignant lesions from one another.