Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Aug 27, 2023; 15(8): 1784-1798
Published online Aug 27, 2023. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v15.i8.1784
Maternal choledochal cysts in pregnancy: A systematic review of case reports and case series
Goran Augustin, Ivan Romic, Iva Miličić, Mislav Mikuš, Mislav Herman
Goran Augustin, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb 10000, Croatia
Goran Augustin, Mislav Herman, School of Medicine University of Zagreb, Zagreb 10000, Croatia
Ivan Romic, Department of Surgery, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb 10000, Croatia
Iva Miličić, Mislav Mikuš, Mislav Herman, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb 10000, Croatia
Author contributions: Augustin G designed the research and wrote the paper; Romic I and Miličić I performed the research and wrote the paper; Mikuš M and Herman M analyzed the data and performed the literature review.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Goran Augustin, MD, MSc, PhD, Associate Professor, Doctor, Senior Scientist, Surgical Oncologist, Department of Surgery, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Kišpatićeva 12, Zagreb 10000, Croatia. augustin.goran@gmail.com
Received: December 20, 2022
Peer-review started: December 20, 2022
First decision: February 8, 2023
Revised: February 14, 2023
Accepted: June 11, 2023
Article in press: June 11, 2023
Published online: August 27, 2023
Core Tip

Core Tip: Although rare, maternal choledochal cysts (CC) in pregnancy should be included in the evaluation of jaundice with upper abdominal pain. Symptomatology and clinical course are variable, and treatment may range from an expectative approach to emergent surgical treatment of CC and urgent cesarean section. While most cases were managed by conservative measures or drainage procedures, CC > 15 cm and progressive cholangitis carry the risk of CC rupture and septic complications, which may increase the rates of unfavorable maternal and fetal outcomes. Therefore, such cases require specific surgical and obstetric interventions.