Role of MR cholangiopancreatography in patients with failed or inadequate ERCP

The purpose of our study was to evaluate the usefulness of MR cholangiopancreatography in the diagnosis and further treatment of patients with failed or inadequate ERCP.

Fifty-eight patients with failed or inadequate ERCP underwent MR cholangiopancreatography using a two-dimensional heavily T2-weighted multislice fast spin-echo technique. The final diagnosis was made on the basis of a second ERCP (n = 4), percutaneous transhepatic cholangiopancreatography (n = 19), intraoperative cholangiography (n = 6), percutaneous biopsy (n = 3), surgical findings (n = 5), or clinical follow-up (n = 21) for a mean period of 22 months (range, 7-31 months).

MR cholangiopancreatography was technically successful in 57 patients and resulted in a sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of 97.1%, 100%, and 98.2%, respectively. Overall, MR cholangiopancreatography gave clinically useful information that contributed to patient management in 56 (96.6%) of the 58 patients. On the basis of the MR cholangiopancreatography findings, patients were managed using a second ERCP (n = 4), combined percutaneous and endoscopic procedure (n = 2), percutaneous biliary stent insertion (n = 13), surgery (n = 12), chemotherapy (n = 1), or conservative treatment (n = 24).

MR cholangiopancreatography was found to have a unique and valuable role in the investigation of patients in whom ERCP failed or was inadequate. MR cholangiopancreatography helped us avoid using invasive procedures such as percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography in the diagnosis of bile duct disease after failed ERCP.