Cholangiographic CT in differential diagnosis of Caroli's disease and polycystic liver disease - A preliminary study

In order to investigate the clinical values of cholangiographic computed tomography (cholangiographic CT) and hepatobiliary scintigraphy in the diagnosis of Caroli's disease and polycystic liver disease (PLD), we enrolled one patient with Caroli's disease and four patients with PLD confirmed by sonography and endoscopic retrograde cholangiography to undergo the above mentioned examinations. Based on the presence or absence of contrast opacification of intrahepatic cystic lesions, cholangiographic CT was able to make accurate diagnoses in all patients. On the other hand, hepatobiliary scintigraphy made an accurate diagnosis in the patient with Caroli's disease, but it failed to demonstrate abnormal findings in two patients with PLD and the image of another patient with PLD was misinterpreted as Caroli's disease. Our preliminary study suggested that cholangiographic CT was a promising non-invasive method to accurately differentiate Caroli's disease from PLD.