American Journal of Roentgenology, Vol 158, 997-1000, Copyright © 1992 by American Roentgen Ray Society

ARTICLES

Changes in extrahepatic bile duct caliber in liver transplant recipients without evidence of biliary obstruction

WL Campbell, RG Foster, WJ Miller, JW Lecky, AB Zajko and KY Lee
Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Presbyterian University Hospital, PA 15213.

To better understand changes in the size of the extrahepatic bile duct after liver transplantation, we retrospectively studied the luminal diameter of the extrahepatic bile duct on serial cholangiograms in 40 liver transplant recipients with choledochocholedochostomy biliary anastomoses and without biliary complications. Forty operative and 105 postoperative cholangiograms were reviewed. The average interval between operative and last postoperative cholangiogram was 5 weeks (range, 1-17 weeks). The mean diameter of the donor common hepatic duct increased from 5.5 +/- 2.1 mm to 6.3 +/- 2.4 mm (p = .015). The mean diameter of the native common bile duct increased from 5.1 +/- 1.4 mm to 6.8 +/- 2.4 mm (p less than .001). The diameter of the donor common hepatic duct increased by 3 mm or more in six patients (15%); the diameter of the native common bile duct increased by 3 mm or more in nine (23%). Increased diameter of the native common bile duct was associated with T-tube migration into the duct in four cases. The size of the extrahepatic bile duct on cholangiograms is stable or increases slightly in most liver transplant recipients. Mild increases unassociated with a specific cause of obstruction or hepatic dysfunction do not portend biliary obstruction and are clinically benign.
CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. S. Fulcher and M. A. Turner Orthotopic Liver Transplantation: Evaluation with MR Cholangiography Radiology, June 1, 1999; 211(3): 715 - 722. [Abstract] [Full Text]