ROLE OF MULTIDETECTOR CT (MDCT) IN PREOPERATIVE RESECTABILITY ASSESSMENT OF CENTRAL CHOLANGIOCARCINOMA

Introduction: CT is an excellent imaging technique for evaluating the soft-tissue extent of hilar cholangiocarcinoma and the relation between the tumor and the hepatic vasculature. Aim of the work: To assess the role of multidetector CT (MDCT) in preoperative resectability assessment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma Methods: The study included 20 patients presenting with hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Informed consent signed by the patients. All patients subjected to proper history taking, clinical examination as well as routine laboratory investigations. Triphasic abdominal MDCT. Post-processing techniques including multi-planner reformation (MPR), maximum intensity projection (MIP) and minimum intensity projection (MinIP). Results: 11 patients with portal vein invasion, 10 patients with hepatic artery invasion. Four patients had type I obstruction; four patients, type II obstruction; two patients, type IIIa obstruction; four patients, type IIIb obstruction; and six patients, type IV obstruction. The tumors were considered resectable in 12 patients in the preoperative assessment. Conclusion: Multidetector CT provides important information on the preoperative assessment of central cholangiocarcinoma resectability and the extent of surgery.