ABSTRACT
Acute and chronic cholangitis can be complicated by jaundice and infection or sepsis. Modern imaging techniques are capable of visualizing the entire biliary tree. Magnetic Resonance [MR] is capable of better demonstrating also a possible secondary liver involvement. The whole biliary tree and hepatic parenchyma of a group of 20 patients with clinical signs of acute or chronic cholangitis were studied with MR. MR was able to differentiate cases of simple acute or chronic cholangitis from others complicated by a secondary hepatitis, which can be defined as acute or chronic cholangio-hepatitis. Our MR results confirm the great importance of this technique in the study of the biliary tree and of the hepatic parenchyma, contributing to a precise diagnosis and easy differentiation of simple cholangitis, acute or chronic, from other complicated by a secondary hepatitis