Discrimination of suppurative cholangitis from nonsuppurative cholangitis with computed tomography (CT)

Lee, Nam Kyung; Kim, Suk; Lee, Jun Woo; Kim, Chang Won; Kim, Gwang Ha; Kang, Dae Hwan; Jo, Hong Jae

doi:10.1016/j.ejrad.2007.11.031

« Previous Next »European Journal of Radiology
Volume 69, Issue 3 , Pages 528-535, March 2009

Discrimination of suppurative cholangitis from nonsuppurative cholangitis with computed tomography (CT)

Nam Kyung Lee
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Pusan National University Hospital, Pusan National University School of Medicine and Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University, Busan 602-739, Republic of Korea
Suk Kim
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Pusan National University Hospital, Pusan National University School of Medicine and Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University, Busan 602-739, Republic of Korea
- Corresponding author at: Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Pusan National University Hospital, Pusan National University School of Medicine, #1-10, Ami-Dong, Seo-gu, Busan 602-739, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +8251 240 7354; fax: +8251 240 7534.
Jun Woo Lee
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Pusan National University Hospital, Pusan National University School of Medicine and Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University, Busan 602-739, Republic of Korea
Chang Won Kim
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Pusan National University Hospital, Pusan National University School of Medicine and Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University, Busan 602-739, Republic of Korea
Gwang Ha Kim
- Department of Gastrointestinal Internal Medicine, Pusan National University Hospital, Pusan National University School of Medicine and Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University, Busan 602-739, Republic of Korea
Dae Hwan Kang
- Department of Gastrointestinal Internal Medicine, Pusan National University Hospital, Pusan National University School of Medicine and Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University, Busan 602-739, Republic of Korea
Hong Jae Jo
- Department of Surgery, Pusan National University Hospital, Pusan National University School of Medicine and Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University, Busan 602-739, Republic of Korea

Received 24 August 2007; received in revised form 26 October 2007; accepted 16 November 2007.

Abstract

Purpose

Suppurative cholangitis is characterized by obstruction, inflammation, and pyogenic infection of the biliary tract. This disease represents a true emergency. The purpose of this study was to compare the computed tomography (CT) findings between acute calculous suppurative and nonsuppurative cholangitis and to determine if there are findings that assist in the differential diagnosis.

Materials and methods

Fifteen patients with acute suppurative cholangitis were enrolled in this study. Findings at endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreaticography (ERCP) were the standard of reference for suppurative cholangitis. To compare the findings of suppurative cholangitis with those of nonsuppurative cholangitis, 35 patients with nonsuppurative cholangitis were randomly selected. The following findings were evaluated: the presence of papillitis, the presence of stones in the ampulla, the presence of intrahepatic stones, the presence of early inhomogeneous enhancement of the liver, the degree of bile duct dilatation, the degree of bile duct wall thickening and presence of cholecystitis. Sensitivity and specificity for each of the individual findings were calculated. Statistical analyses were performed the Pearson χ² test, Fisher's exact test and the Mann–Whitney U test.

Results

Papillitis showed the highest specificity 86% with 60% sensitivity. Marked inhomogeneous enhancement of the liver during the arterial phase showed 80% specificity with 60% sensitivity. In multivariate logistic analysis, papillitis and marked early inhomogeneous enhancement of the liver were the most significant predictors of acute suppurative cholangitis. The combination of these two CT findings improved specificity (97% specificity) for the diagnosis of suppurative cholangitis.

Conclusion

Papillitis and marked early inhomogeneous enhancement of the liver were found to be the most discriminative CT findings for the diagnosis of acute suppurative cholangitis and the differentiation between suppurative and nonsuppurative cholangitis.

Keywords: Bile duct, Computed tomography (CT), Bile duct, Calculi, Bile duct, Cholangitis