MR Imaging in Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis and Other Cholangitis

Sclerosing cholangitis is characterized by irregular and ill-defined inflammation, fibrosis, and stricturing of the bile ducts and may be primary or secondary in cause. It causes progressive destruction of the biliary tree, progressive parenchymal cirrhosis, hepatic failure, and malignancy such as cholangiocarcinoma. The subtypes of sclerosing cholangitis can be broken down into primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), immune-mediated sclerosing cholangitis, infectious cholangitis, and ischemic cholangitis with other causes including metastatic disease and chemotherapy change. MR imaging is the gold standard test to investigate and differentiate PSC and other types of cholangitis.