In the classic descriptions of the human liver, the common hepatic duct forms at the confluence of left and right hepatic ducts. Many authors have documented variations in the intra-hepatic ductal system, but to the best of our knowledge there has been no report on bile duct variations in Caribbean populations.

To evaluate the variations in bile duct anatomy using magnetic resonance cholangiography (MRC) in unselected patients at a major hepatobiliary referral centre in the Eastern Caribbean. Knowledge of the intra-hepatic biliary anatomy is important to optimize service delivery for any physician treating liver and biliary disorders.

This study was carried out at a tertiary referral hospital for hepatobiliary diseases in the Eastern Caribbean. We retrospectively evaluated magnetic resonance cholangiograms in 152 consecutive patients at this facility over a two-year period from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2019. Two consultant radiologists experienced in MRC interpretation reviewed all scans and described biliary anatomy according to the Huang’s classification. A systematic review of published studies was performed and relevant data were extracted in order to calculate the global prevalence of each biliary variant. The variants in our population were compared to the global population.

There were 152 MRCs evaluated in this study in 86 males and 66 females. There were 109 (71.7%) persons with “classic” biliary anatomy (type A1) and variants were present in 43 (28.3%) persons. There was no statistical relationship between the presence of anatomic variants and gender or ethnicity. We encountered the following variants: 29 (19.1%) type A2, 7 (4.6%) type A3, 6 (3.95%) type A4, 0 type A5 and a single variant (quadrification) that did not fit the classification system. Compared to the global prevalence, our population had a significantly greater occurrence of A1 anatomy (71.7% vs 62.6%; P = 0.0227) and A2 trifurcations (19.1% vs 11.5%; P = 0.0069), but a significantly lower incidence of A3 variants (4.61% vs 11.5%; P = 0.0047).

There are significant differences in intra-hepatic biliary anatomy in this unselected Eastern Caribbean population compared to global statistics. Specifically, persons of Caribbean descent have a greater incidence of Huang A2 trifurcations and a lower incidence of Huang A3 variants.

• Liver
• Variant
• Biliary
• Duct
• Intra-hepatic
• Aberrant
• Trifurcation, Bifurcation

• 3D MR cholangiography
• SPACE
• breath-hold
• compressed sensing

• bile duct
• fluorescence laparoscopy
• hepatobiliary surgery
• heptamethine cyanine
• near-infrared fluorescence

• Biliary anatomy
• Biliary complication
• Liver living donor

Intrahepatic and extrahepatic anatomical knowledge is essential for pre procedural planning of liver transplantation, liver resection, complex biliary reconstruction and radiological biliary tree intervention. Indian data of biliary anatomy and its variation is scant in literature. The aim of our study is to find out the prevalence of common and uncommon pattern of biliary tree anatomy in magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) in our population. A total of 1,038 cases of MRCP of population of Odisha were obtained from Picture Archiving and Communication System of the department and were reviewed by two senior radiologists for anatomical pattern and variations. The typical and most common pattern of right hepatic duct (RHD) branching was seen in 72.8% cases. The most common variant of RHD was trifurcation pattern of insertion of right anterior sectoral duct (RASD), right posterior sectoral duct and left hepatic duct (LHD) forming common hepatic duct (CHD) in 11.3% of cases. The common trunk of segment (SEG) II and III ducts joining the SEG IV duct was the most common LHD branching pattern in 90.3% of cases. The most common pattern of cystic duct was posterior insertion to middle third of CHD (42.8%). MRCP is the non-invasive imaging modality for demonstration of biliary duct morphology to prevent iatrogenic injury during hepatobiliary intervention and surgery.

• Anatomic variation
• Bile ducts
• Cholangiography
• Intraheaptic
• Magnetic resonance imaging

This study aimed to report intraoperative abortion of adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT).

From June 1997 to December 2016, 1,179 adult LDLT cases were performed. 15 cases (1.3%) of intraoperative abortions in LDLT were described.

Among 15 cases, 5 intraoperative abortions were donor-related, and remaining 10 cases were recipient-related. All donor-related abortions were due to unexpected steatohepatitis. Among remaining 10 recipient-related intraoperative abortions, unexpected extension of hepatocellular carcinoma was related in 5 cases. Two cases of intraoperative abortions were related to bowel inflammation, and 2 cases were associated with severe adhesion related to previous treatment. One recipient with severe pulmonary hypertension was also aborted.

Complete prevention of aborted LDLT is still not feasible. In this regard, further efforts to minimize intraoperative abortion are required.

• Abortion
• Liver transplantation
• Living donors
• Postoperative care

• Humans
• Liver Transplantation
• Living Donors
• Tissue and Organ Procurement

The expanded indications of partial grafts in pediatric liver transplantation have reduced waiting list mortality. However, a higher morbidity is observed, including an increased rate of biliary complications (BCs). Factors such as the type of graft, the preservation methods applied, the donor characteristics, the type of biliary reconstruction, and the number of bile ducts in the liver graft influences the occurrence of these complications. Bile leaks and strictures comprise the majority of post-transplant BCs. Biliary strictures require a high grade of suspicion, and because most children have a bileo-enteric anastomosis, its diagnosis and management rely on percutaneous hepatic cholangiography and percutaneous biliary interventions (PBI). The success rates with PBI range from 70% to 90%. Surgery is reserved for patients who have failed PBI. BCs in children after liver transplantation have a prolonged treatment and are associated with a longer length of stay and higher hospital costs. However, with early diagnosis and aggressive treatment, patient and graft survival are not significantly compromised.

• Outcomes
• Live-donor
• Infants
• Strictures
• Bile leaks

AIM: To establish the role of magnetic resonance cholangiography (MRC) in diagnosis of biliary anatomy in living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) donors.

METHODS: A systematic review was performed by searching electronic bibliographic databases prior to March 2013. Studies with diagnostic results and fulfilled inclusion criteria were included. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed. Sensitivity, specificity and other measures of the accuracy of MRC for diagnosis of biliary anatomy in LDLT donors were summarized using a random-effects model or a fixed-effects model. Summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves were used to summarize overall test performance. Publication bias was assessed using Deek’s funnel plot asymmetry test. Sensitivity analysis was adopted to explore the potential sources of heterogeneity.

RESULTS: Twelve studies involving 869 subjects were eligible to the analysis. The scores of Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies for the included studies ranged from 11 to 14. The summary estimates of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnostic OR of MRC in diagnosis of biliary anatomy in LDLT donor were 0.88 (95%CI: 0.84-0.92), 0.95 (95%CI: 0.93-0.97), 15.33 (95%CI: 10.70-21.95), 0.15 (95%CI: 0.11-0.20) and 130.77 (95%CI: 75.91-225.27), respectively. No significant heterogeneity was detected in all the above four measures. Area under SROC curve was 0.971. Little publication bias was noted across the studies (P = 0.557). Sensitivity analysis excluding a study with possible heterogeneity got a similar overall result, which suggested the little influence of this study on the overall results.

CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that MRC is a high specificity but moderate sensitivity technique in diagnosis of biliary anatomy in LDLT donors.

• Magnetic resonance imaging
• Cholangiography
• Biliary
• Anatomy
• Living donors

• Area Under Curve
• Bile Ducts/anatomy & histology
• Chi-Square Distribution
• Cholangiopancreatography, Magnetic Resonance
• Donor Selection
• Humans
• Likelihood Functions
• Liver Transplantation/methods
• Living Donors
• Odds Ratio
• Predictive Value of Tests
• ROC Curve

• Adult
• Bile Duct Diseases/epidemiology
• Bile Duct Diseases/etiology
• Bile Ducts/surgery
• Female
• Humans
• Liver Transplantation/adverse effects
• Living Donors
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Retrospective Studies
• Risk Factors
• Transplants
• Treatment Outcome