Owing to the development of multidetector-row CT (MDCT), capability in the imaging diagnosis of liver disease has increased surprisingly. First, a marked decrease in scan duration of the liver enables us to select the accurate scan time optionally. Secondly, a marked decrease in slice thickness enables us to render isotropic and three-dimensional images completely. In this pictorial review, we described the optimal contrast enhancement of the liver on MDCT and its significance as well as the applications of isotropic and three-dimensional images obtained by MDCT.
Bile Duct Neoplasms/diagnosis/*radiography ; Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic/*radiography ; Biliary Tract/radiography ; Cholangiocarcinoma/diagnosis/*radiography ; Cholestasis/*radiography ; Humans ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Tomography, Spiral Computed/instrumentation/*methods

Pneumobilia almost always indicates an abnormal communication between the biliary and gastrointestinal systems. Air may occasionally enter the biliary tract in a retrograde fashion through the papilla. Transient incompetence of the sphincter of Oddi, which is produced by the passage of small biliary stones, is one rare mechanism that can explain pneumobilia. We present here a case of spontaneous pneumobilia after sphincter disruption that was presumably caused by the passage of biliary stone. A 37-year-old woman visited our hospital with the symptom of right upper quadrant pain. The pain subsided after she had an episode of severe vomiting. Plain abdominal radiography revealed that air filled the branches of the hepatic ducts, and the common bile duct had a large filling defect. We also include a review of the related literature.
Adult ; Biliary Tract ; Common Bile Duct ; Female ; Hepatic Duct, Common ; Humans ; Radiography, Abdominal ; Sphincter of Oddi ; Vomiting

Enhanced z-axis coverage with thin overlapping slices in breath-hold acquisitions with multidetector CT (MDCT) has considerably enhanced the quality of multiplanar 3D reconstruction. This pictorial essay describes the improvements in 3D reconstruction and technical aspects of 3D reconstruction and rendering techniques available for abdominal imaging. Clinical applications of 3D imaging in abdomen including liver, pancreaticobiliary system, urinary and gastrointestinal tracts and imaging before and after transplantation are discussed. In addition, this article briefly discusses the disadvantages of thin-slice acquisitions including increasing numbers of transverse images, which must be reviewed by the radiologist.
Adult ; Aged ; Biliary Tract/radiography ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Tract/radiography ; Human ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/*methods ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Liver/radiography ; Liver Transplantation/radiography ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreas/radiography ; Radiography, Abdominal/*methods ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/*methods ; Urography/methods

A pleurobiliary fistula is an abnormal communication between the biliary system and the pleural space. It has rarely been reported after percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage (PTGBD). Here, we report the case of an 88-year-old man with bilious pleural infection via pleurobiliary fistula following PTGBD. The patient had a fever, dyspnea and right pleuritic chest pain. The PTGBD was performed 2 months prior to treat acute cholecystitis with large gallstones. Chest radiography demonstrated a right pleural effusion and a computed tomography of the abdomen showed a pleurobiliary fistula tract associated with the previous PTGBD. A drainage tube was inserted into the right pleural effusion, and the bilious pleural fluid infected with Escherichia coli was drained. Careful approach to PTGBD procedure and reducing duration of catheter placement should prevent fistula formation. As a rare complication of PTGBD, practitioners should be aware of the potential of pleural infection by a pleurobiliary fistula tract.
Abdomen ; Aged, 80 and over ; Biliary Fistula ; Biliary Tract ; Catheters ; Chest Pain ; Cholecystitis, Acute ; Drainage* ; Dyspnea ; Escherichia coli ; Fever ; Fistula* ; Gallbladder* ; Gallstones ; Humans ; Pleural Effusion ; Radiography ; Thorax

OBJECTIVE: To assess the value of applying MultiVane to liver T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) compared with conventional T2WIs with emphasis on detection of focal liver lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-eight patients (43 men and 35 women) with 86 hepatic lesions and 20 pancreatico-biliary diseases underwent MRI including T2WIs acquired using breath-hold (BH), respiratory-triggered (RT), and MultiVane technique at 3T. Two reviewers evaluated each T2WI with respect to artefacts, organ sharpness, and conspicuity of intrahepatic vessels, hilar duct, and main lesion using five-point scales, and made pairwise comparisons between T2WI sequences for these categories. Diagnostic accuracy (Az) and sensitivity for hepatic lesion detection were evaluated using alternative free-response receiver operating characteristic analysis. RESULTS: MultiVane T2WI was significantly better than BH-T2WI or RT-T2WI for organ sharpness and conspicuity of intrahepatic vessels and main lesion in both separate reviews and pairwise comparisons (p < 0.001). With regard to motion artefacts, MultiVane T2WI or BH-T2WI was better than RT-T2WI (p < 0.001). Conspicuity of hilar duct was better with BH-T2WI than with MultiVane T2WI (p = 0.030) or RT-T2WI (p < 0.001). For detection of 86 hepatic lesions, sensitivity (mean, 97.7%) of MultiVane T2WI was significantly higher than that of BH-T2WI (mean, 89.5%) (p = 0.008) or RT-T2WI (mean, 84.9%) (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Applying the MultiVane technique to T2WI of the liver is a promising approach to improving image quality that results in increased detection of focal liver lesions compared with conventional T2WI.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Artifacts ; Biliary Tract Diseases/diagnosis/radiography ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Diseases/*diagnosis/radiography ; Liver Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology/radiography ; *Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Diseases/diagnosis/radiography ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the technical aspects and clinical efficacy of selective embolization for post-endoscopic sphincterotomy bleeding. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed the records of 10 patients (3%; M:F = 6:4; mean age, 63.3 years) that underwent selective embolization for post-endoscopic sphincterotomy bleeding among 344 patients who received arteriography for nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding from 2000 to 2009. We analyzed the endoscopic procedure, onset of bleeding, underlying clinical condition, angiographic findings, interventional procedure, and outcomes in these patients. RESULTS: Among the 12 bleeding branches, primary success of hemostasis was achieved in 10 bleeding branches (83%). Secondary success occurred in two additional bleeding branches (100%) after repeated embolization. In 10 patients, post-endoscopic sphincterotomy bleedings were detected during the endoscopic procedure (n = 2, 20%) or later (n = 8, 80%), and the delay was from one to eight days (mean, 2.9 days; +/- 2.3). Coagulopathy was observed in three patients. Eight patients had a single bleeding branch, whereas two patients had two branches. On the selective arteriography, bleeding branches originated from the posterior pancreaticoduodenal artery (n = 8, 67%) and anterior pancreaticoduodenal artery (n = 4, 33%), respectively. Superselection was achieved in four branches and the embolization was performed with n-butyl cyanoacrylate. The eight branches were embolized by combined use of coil, n-butyl cyanoacrylate, or Gelfoam. After the last embolization, there was no rebleeding or complication related to embolization. CONCLUSION: Selective embolization is technically feasible and an effective procedure for post-endoscopic sphincterotomy bleeding. In addition, the posterior pancreaticoduodenal artery is the main origin of the causative vessels of post-endoscopic sphincterotomy bleeding.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Angiography, Digital Subtraction ; Biliary Tract Diseases/radiography/*surgery ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Embolization, Therapeutic/*methods ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage/*etiology/radiography/*therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications/*etiology/radiography/*therapy ; Retrospective Studies ; *Sphincterotomy, Endoscopic ; Treatment Outcome

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Biliary Tract Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Papilloma ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Radiography ; Young Adult

No abstract available.
Bile Ducts/physiopathology ; Biliary Tract Diseases/*diagnosis/radiography/therapy ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Constriction, Pathologic/therapy ; Hepatitis B, Chronic/diagnosis ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms/diagnosis/therapy ; Liver Transplantation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Stents

The increased use of interventional procedures and laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the management of hepatobiliary disorders is associated with an increased incidence of hemobilia and hepatic artery aneurysm. Here we report a case of hepatic artery pseudoaneurysm associated with a plastic biliary stent. Multiple factors were involved in the formation of the hepatic artery aneurysm (HAA) and it was successfully treated by embolization.
Aneurysm, False/etiology/*therapy ; Biliary Tract Surgical Procedures/adverse effects ; Embolization, Therapeutic/methods ; Female ; Hemobilia/etiology/therapy ; Hepatic Artery/*pathology/radiography ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; *Stents ; Abdominal Injuries/complications ; Abdominal Wall/pathology/*surgery ; Female ; Hernia, Abdominal/etiology/radiography/*surgery ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), which encompasses deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism (PE), increases in patients with cancer. Anticancer treatment is also associated with an increased risk for VTE. We conducted this study to investigate the clinical characteristics of patients with cancer and PE related to anticancer treatment in a tertiary care hospital in Korea. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical data of patients with an underlying malignancy who were diagnosed with PE by chest computed tomography (CT) with or without lower extremity CT angiography between January 2006 and December 2007 at Seoul National University Hospital. RESULTS: Overall, 95 patients with malignancies among 168 with PE were analyzed. The median age was 64 years. The median time interval from the malignancy diagnosis to the PE diagnosis was 5.5 months. Lung cancer was the most common malignancy (23.0%), followed by pancreatobiliary cancer, stomach cancer, gynecological cancer, breast cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Platinum-containing and pyrimidine analog-containing chemotherapeutic regimens were common. CONCLUSIONS: PE was diagnosed within 1 year after the cancer diagnosis in almost 70% of patients. Lung cancer was the most common underlying malignancy.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Angiography ; Antineoplastic Agents/*therapeutic use ; Biliary Tract Neoplasms/drug therapy/epidemiology/radiotherapy ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/drug therapy/epidemiology/radiotherapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Neoplasms/drug therapy/epidemiology/radiotherapy ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/drug therapy/epidemiology/radiotherapy ; Pulmonary Embolism/*epidemiology/radiography ; *Radiotherapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Stomach Neoplasms/drug therapy/epidemiology/radiotherapy ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed