Hepatic peribiliary cysts diagnosed by magnetic resonance cholangiography

We report a 76-year-old man with hepatic peribiliary cysts diagnosed by magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP). On his first admission, in 1991, the patient was misidentified as having localized dilatation of the left intrahepatic bile ducts, from the ultrasound (US) and computed tomographic (CT) findings, or primary sclerosing cholangitis from endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). However, US and CT in 1998 suggested worsening of the lesions. MRCP was performed for the first time, revealing hepatic peribiliary cysts in the hepatic hilum and along the left hepatic ducts. Drip infusion cholangiography (DIC)-CT confirmed the extraluminal compression of the bile ducts, caused by the cysts, without an influx of contrast medium into the hepatic peribiliary cysts. Retrospective evaluation showed increases in the size and number of the cysts in 1998 compared with the findings in 1996.