Usefulness of MR Cholangiopancreatography after Intravenous Morphine Administration

PURPOSE: We wanted to assess the usefulness of MRCP after intravenous morphine administration in the evaluation of the hepatopancreatic pancreatico-biliary ductal system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 15 patients who were suspected of having disease of hepatopancreatic ductal system and they did not have any obstructive lesion on ultrasonography and/or CT. MRCP was acquired before and after morphine administration (0.04 mg/kg, intravenously). Three radiologists scored the quality of the images of the anatomic structures in the hepatopancreatic ductal system. We directly compared the quality of the images obtained with using the two methods and the improvement of the artifacts by pulsatile vascular compression. RESULTS: The MRCP images obtained after intravenous morphine administration were better than those obtained before morphine administration for visualizing the hepatopancreatic ductal system. On direct comparison, the MRCP images obtained after morphine administration were better in 12 cases, equivocal in two cases, and the images before morphine administration were better in only one case. In three patients, MRCP before morphine injection showed signal loss at the duct across the pulsatile hepatic artery. In two of three patients, MRCP after morphine injection showed no signal loss in this ductal area. CONCLUSION: MRCP after intravenous morphine administration enables physicians to see the hepatopancreatic ductal system significantly better and the artifacts caused by pulsation of the hepatic artery can be avoided.

Anatomia das vias biliares em doadores e receptores de transplante hepático inter vivos / Study of biliary anatomy in living related liver transplantation / Study of biliary anatomy in living related liver transplantation

RACIONAL: Variações anatômicas das vias biliares são freqüentes e aumentam as complicações dos transplantes hepáticos. OBJETIVO: Avaliar a anatomia das vias biliares nos doadores e receptores do transplante hepático inter vivos realizados no Hospital de Clínicas da Universidade Federal do Paraná e do Hospital Nossa Senhora das Graças de Curitiba, Curitiba, PR. CASUíSTICA E MÉTODOS: A avaliação foi retrospectiva de março de 1998 até setembro de 2002 (23 transplantes), quando os dados passaram a ser captados de forma prospectiva (17 transplantes), até agosto de 2003. Foram obtidos dados de 80 pacientes consecutivos (40 doadores e 40 receptores), submetidos a transplante hepático inter vivos, sendo 32 transplantes com receptor adulto e 8 transplantes pediátricos (receptor com idade inferior a 15 anos). Entre os 80 pacientes incluídos no estudo, 51 eram do sexo masculino (27 receptores e 24 doadores) e 29 do feminino (13 receptores e 16 doadores). A idade média dos doadores foi de 32,6 anos e a dos receptores de 36,3 anos. RESULTADOS: Nas cirurgias de captação do lobo hepático direito, a via biliar direita foi única em 25 entre 29 casos (86,2 por cento), dupla em dois (6,9 por cento) e tripla em dois (6,9 por cento). Nos oito casos em que o setor lateral esquerdo ou o lobo hepático esquerdo foram captados, a via biliar foi única. Entre os 33 pacientes submetidos a colangiografia por ressonância magnética, variações foram verificadas em três pacientes (9,1 por cento), sendo a mais comum o ducto biliar posterior direito tributário do ducto hepático esquerdo (6,06 por cento; n = 2). CONCLUSÃO: A prevalência de anomalias biliares nos transplantes inter vivos de fígado é elevada e algumas não são diagnosticadas com os exames de imagem pré-operatórios.

BACKGROUND: Anatomic variations of the biliary tree are frequent and increase complications after liver transplantation. AIM: To describe the anatomy of the bile ducts of donors and recipients of living related liver transplantation. METHODS: From March 1998 to September 2002, the study was retrospective (23 transplantations). From October 2002 to August 2003, the study was prospective (17 transplantations). We studied the hepatic anatomy of 80 consecutive patients (40 donors and 40 recipients) of the living-related liver transplantation program of the "Hospital de Clínicas da Universidade Federal do Paraná" and the "Hospital Nossa Senhora das Graças", Curitiba, PR, Brazil; 51 were male (27 recipients 24 donors) and 29 female (13 recipients and 16 donors). The median age among the donors was 32.6 years and among the recipients was 36.3 years. Thirty-two recipients were adults and 8 recipients were under 15 years old. The bile duct anatomy was studied by magnetic resonance cholangiography in 33 patients, and anomalies were seen in 3 of them (9.1 percent). RESULTS: The most prevalent variation of bile ducts was the fusion of the right posterior duct with the left duct (6.06 percent; n=2). In the 40 harvesting operations, the right bile duct was single in 25 patients (87.5 percent), among the 32 right-lobe donors, double in 2 (6.25 percent) and triple in 2 (6.25 percent). All of the eight left livers procured had single bile ducts. Among the 40 recipients, the common bile duct was bifurcated in 2 of them (5 percent). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of biliary anomalies is high in patients subjected to living liver transplantation and some anomalies are not diagnosed with preoperative imaging exams.

Gadobenate Dimeglumine as an Intrabiliary Contrast Agent: Comparison with Mangafodipir Trisodium with Respect to Non-dilated Biliary Tree Depiction

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of Mangafodipir trisodium (Mn-DPDP) -enhanced MR cholangiogrphy (MRC) and Gadobenate dimeglumine (Gd-BOPTA) -enhanced MRC in visualizing a non-dilated biliary system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty-eight healthy liver donor candidates underwent contrast-enhanced T1-weighted MRC. Mn-DPDP and Gd-BOPTA was used in 36 and 52 patients, respectively. Two radiologists reviewed the MR images and rated the visualization of the common duct, the right and left hepatic ducts, and the second-order branches using a 4-point scale. The contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the common duct to the liver in the two groups was also compared. RESULTS: Mn-DPDP MRC and Gd-BOPTA MRC both showed similar visualization grades in the common duct (p = .380, Mann-Whitney U test). In the case of the proximal bile ducts, the median visualization grade was significantly higher with Gd-BOPTA MRC than with Mn-DPDP MRC (right hepatic duct: p = 0.016, left hepatic duct: p = 0.014, right secondary order branches: p = 0.006, left secondary order branches, p = 0.003). The common duct-to-liver CNR of the Gd-BOPTA MRC group was significantly higher (38.90+/-24.50) than that of the Mn-DPDP MRC group (24.14+/-17.98) (p = .003, Student's t test). CONCLUSION: Gd-BOPTA, as a biliary contrast agent, is a potential substitute for Mn-DPDP.

Anatomic Variation in Intrahepatic Bile Ducts: an Analysis of Intraoperative Cholangiograms in 300 Consecutive Donors for Living Donor Liver Transplantation

OBJECTIVE: To describe the anatomical variation occurring in intrahepatic bile ducts (IHDs) in terms of their branching patterns, and to determine the frequency of each variation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study group consisted of 300 consecutive donors for liver transplantation who underwent intraoperative cholangiography. Anatomical variation in IHDs was classified according to the branching pattern of the right anterior and right posterior segmental duct (RASD and RPSD, respectively), and the presence or absence of the first-order branch of the left hepatic duct (LHD), and of an accessory hepatic duct. RESULTS: The anatomy of the intrahepatic bile ducts was typical in 63% of cases (n=188), showed triple confluence in 10% (n=29), anomalous drainage of the RPSD into the LHD in 11% (n=34), anomalous drainage of the RPSD into the common hepatic duct (CHD) in 6% (n=19), anomalous drainage of the RPSD into the cystic duct in 2% (n=6), drainage of the right hepatic duct (RHD) into the cystic duct (n=1), the presence of an accessory duct leading to the CHD or RHD in 5% (n=16), individual drainage of the LHD into the RHD or CHD in 1% (n=4), and unclassified or complex variation in 1% (n=3). CONCLUSION: The branching pattern of IHDs was atypical in 37% of cases. The two most common variations were drainage of the RPSD into the LHD (11%) and triple confluence of the RASD, RPSD and LHD (10%).