Abstract
PURPOSE: Three-dimensional(3D) magnetic resonance(MR) projection imaging was evaluated as a noninvasive
alternative to direct cholangiography for the assessment of its reliability in patients with obsructive jaundice.
METHODS AND MATERIALS: A heavily T2-weighted gradient-echo sequence(PSIF) was used for 3D MR
projecion imaging of the biliary system in five healthy volunteers and 25 patients with obstructive jaundice. The
3D images of the bile ducts were formed by stacking consecutive coronal MR images obtained with a fast
imaging method to a maximum-intensity projection algorithm.
RESULTS: In the volunteers, MR cholangiography could demonstrate the anatomy of the biliary tract in only
two subjects. The extrahepatic and intraheparic bile ducts were well visualized in 23 patients with obstructive
jaundice. The leve of obstruction and the grade of dilatation were dipicted with MR cholangiography in all
cases. And the cause of obstruction could be determined with MR cholangiography in 18 cases, MR
cholangiography was successful in two patients in whom ERCP failed. The gallbladder or dilated pancreatic
duct not demonstrated by means of direct cholangiography was demonstrated with MR cholangiography in six
cases.