Cholangitis CT

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Amandeep Singh M.D.[2], Farwa Haideri [3]

Overview

CT scans may be helpful in localization of lesions within the biliary tree with high sensitivity, in cases of cholangitis.

Computed tomography (CT) without contrast injections are more sensitive than ultrasounds in demonstrating choledocholithiasis, a predominant cause of acute cholangitis.^[1]
CT scans have a higher sensitivity (63%) and are accurate in locating the site of obstruction.^[2]
The accuracy of conventional CT scans in determining the presence and level of obstruction is between 81% and 94%.^[2]
Findings on CT scan suggestive of/diagnostic of acute cholangitis include:
- In arterial-phase, there is non-homogeneous liver enhancement

↑ Gallix BP, Aufort S, Pierredon MA, Garibaldi F, Bruel JM (2006). “[Acute cholangitis: imaging diagnosis and management]”. J Radiol (in French). 87 (4 Pt 2): 430–40. PMID 16691174.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Tse, Frances; Barkun, Jeffrey S.; Romagnuolo, Joseph; Friedman, Gad; Bornstein, Jeffrey D.; Barkun, Alan N. (2006). “Nonoperative imaging techniques in suspected biliary tract obstruction”. HPB. 8 (6): 409–425. doi:10.1080/13651820600746867. ISSN 1365-182X.
↑ Case courtesy of Dr Henry Knipe, <a href=”https://radiopaedia.org/“>Radiopaedia.org</a>. From the case <a href=”https://radiopaedia.org/cases/39068“>rID: 39068</a>