Usefulness of Postoperative Spiral Computed Tomography Combined with Drip Infusion Cholangiography in Patients with Congenital Biliary Dilatation

Abstract

Spiral computed tomography combined with drip infusion cholangiography (DIC-SCT) has come into widespread use as a new method for examinating patients with biliary diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the usefulness of DIC-SCT during the postoperative period in patients with congenital biliary dilatation. DIC-SCT was performed on 7 patients who had undergone excision of a cyst with hepaticoenterostomy for congenital biliary dilatation. Their age at surgery ranged from 4 months to 40 years. The follow-up period after surgery ranged from 10 to 127 months. In all cases, the first branch of the intrahepatic bile duct, the anastomotic site and intestine were recognized by DIC-SCT. The size of the anastomosis ranged from 4 to 25mm in transverse diameter and from 3 to 20 mm in occipitofrontal diameter. In one type IV-A case, dilatation of the right intrahepatic bile duct and obstruction of the left intrahepatic bile duct were revealed. This study demonstrates that DIC-CT is suitable for postoperative examination of the anastomotic site and monitoring for cholestasis in patients with congenital biliary dilatation.