ArticleAnnals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England2013
The role of magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography in the management of acute gallstone pancreatitis.
Article in Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- A cautionary tale of anatomical variations of the extrahepatic biliary system and their implications for surgical procedures: a systematic literature review.Surgical and radiologic anatomy : SRA · 2025Pooled it
- Pilot feasibility study to determine the utility of direct access and quantitative magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) in the assessment of suspected acute biliary or ductal gallstone presentations.BMC gastroenterology · 2025Trial
- Acute Gallstone Pancreatitis: If a Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words, How Many Images Do We Need?Cureus · 2023Article
- MR imaging for acute pancreatitis: the current status of clinical applications.Annals of translational medicine · 2019Review
- The Use of Magnetic Resonance Cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) in the Setting of Acute Pancreatitis: When is it Most Useful?Spartan medical research journal · 2017Article
- Scoring System for the Management of Acute Gallstone Pancreatitis: Cost Analysis of a Prospective Study.Journal of gastrointestinal surgery : official journal of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract · 2016Article
- Is preoperative MRCP necessary for patients with gallstones? An analysis of the factors related to missed diagnosis of choledocholithiasis by preoperative ultrasound.BMC gastroenterology · 2015Article
- Impact of Imaging Techniques in the Assessment of Gallstone Pancreatitis.Current health sciences journalReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe aim of this study was to identify whether magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) can be used selectively in patients with acute gallstone pancreatitis to detect choledocholithiasis, based on liver function tests (LFTs) and ultrasonography appearance.
methodsAll patients admitted between January 2008 and January 2011 with gallstone pancreatitis (amylase >300u/l) who underwent MRCP were included in the study. LFTs and radiology reports were obtained from the respective computer systems.
resultsOverall, 173 patients with acute gallstone pancreatitis underwent MRCP and 30% (52/173) showed choledocholithiasis. The mean bilirubin level was significantly higher in those with choledocholithiasis (46 ±5μmol/l vs 36 ±3μmol/l, p=0.0388) although there was no significant difference in alkaline phosphatase (276 ±25iu/l vs 229 ±16iu/l, p=0.1154). However, sensitivity of abnormal bilirubin (>21μmol/l) for choledocholithiasis was only 62% and specificity was 41%. Sensitivity of abnormal alkaline phosphatase (>140iu/l) for choledocholithiasis was only 75% and specificity was 37%. There was a significant association between biliary dilatation on ultrasonography and choledocholithiasis on MRCP (p=0.0099) although the sensitivity of biliary dilatation for choledocholithiasis was only 44% and the specificity was 79%. Furthermore, there was no difference in the incidence of choledocholithiasis on MRCP for those patients with persistently deranged LFTs versus those whose LFTs returned to normal (relative risk: 1.07, 95% confidence interval: 0.61-1.89, p=1.00). Overall, 10% of patients with choledocholithiasis on MRCP had entirely normal LFTs on admission and no biliary dilatation or choledocholithiasis on ultrasonography.
conclusionsAll patients with acute gallstone pancreatitis should undergo specific imaging, preferably MRCP, to exclude choledocholithiasis as LFTs and ultrasonography are inaccurate in predicting common bile duct stones.
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