Diagnostic accuracy of magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) combined with multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) in determining the nature of biliary stricture

Abstract Background Differentiation of benign from malignant biliary stricture is a complex task. We aimed to evaluate diagnostic yield of MRCP combined with CT in the diagnosis of malignant and benign biliary strictures and correlated with histopathological findings of biopsies obtained via endoscopy. Results Fifty-seven patients with suspected distal biliary strictures were subjected to combined MRCP and CT abdomen with IV contrast. Combined CT and MRCP could enhance the diagnostic accuracy in determining the nature of biliary stricture, which increased from 79.2% using MRCP alone to 92.9% using the combined technique. Conclusion Utilizing MRCP in conjunction with CT significantly improves the diagnostic yield for characterizing distal biliary strictures.