Naila Mumtaz, Muhammad Hamid Akram.
Comparision of magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in hepatobiliary disorders.
Pak Armed Forces Med J Jan ;61(2):240-5.

Objectives: Purpose of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic value of MRCP in hepatobiliary disorders and compare it with ERCP. Study Design: Descriptive validation study Place and duration of Study: Radiology Department Military Hospital, Rawalpindi from 15 August 2006– 15 Feburary 2007. Subjects and Methods: Fifty one consecutive patients included 37 males and 14 females were included. Results: Out of 51 patients, 12 had malignant stricture, 05 had benign stricture, 06 had mass at porta hepatis, 05 had cholelithesis, 8 had choledocholithiasis, 03 had both cholelithesis & choledocholithesis, 3 had chronic pancreatitis, 04 had mass head of pancreas, 1 had sclerosing cholangitis and 4 patients had normal studies. MRCP was sensitive and specific. Positive and negative predictive values for choledocholithiasis were 100%, 95.3%, 100% and 97.9%. For cholelithesis and benign stricture 80%, 100%, 100% and 97.9% respectively. ERCP showed 5 cases of cholelitiasis, in comparison to MRCP, which had missed one case. In detecting malignant strictures MRCP was 91.7 % sensitive and 100% specific. In cases of periampullary growths, it was difficult to cannulate the endoscope during ERCP. In these cases MRCP showed the level of obstruction non-invasively. MRCP was better in cases for chronic pancreatitis, in defining anatomy of pancreatic duct than ERCP, which has magnification factor of 1.5. Conclusion: Our findings confirm that MRCP, a noninvasive imaging technique of greater value in the diagnosis of hepatobiliary disorders as compared to ERCP.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com