Tips and pitfall of CT and MRI in the diagnosis of biliary tract lesions

Abstract

The progress of CT and MRI in recent decades has been remarkable, and their role in the diagnosis of biliary tract diseases has become very important. Regarding CT, spatial resolution and time resolution are improved drastically by progress of multidetector - row CT (MDCT), and it has become possible to evaluate subtle changes of thickening or enhancement of bile duct and gall bladder wall. Spatial and time resolution are also improved for MRI, and the impact of the development of MRCP and diffusion weighted images has especially been remarkable. However, the sort and number of images are becoming enormous, which makes it very hard to look through all the exams one by one in order. For image interpretation, there are some important images for each disease, and there are some tips in interpreting them. I will explain the roles of CT and MRI in the diagnosis of biliary tract lesions (choledocholithiasis, polypoid and wall thickening lesions of gallbladder, bile duct lesions) with some tips and pitfalls.