European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Aim: This study was made to determine the efficacy of visualization of hepatic artery without contrast and to determine the branching patterns of biliary tract by using MRCP. Methods: This was an observational cross sectional study in the department of Radio- diagnosis, Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College and Hospital, Pune. All the patients who were referred to the Radiology department for routine MRCP were considered as study population. The data collection for the study was done from January 2021 to June 2022. Consecutive sampling was done and the sample size achieved was 30. Results: The normal course of common hepatic duct was found in 80% of patients where the remaining 20% were variants formed by RAHD and LHD and the other being RPHD and LHD. Considering the cystic duct, the normal lateral insertion was found in 76.7% of the study population whereas medial insertion was found in 13.3%. In case of hepatic artery, Michel’s type I was found in 86.7% of the study population. Other variants found are Michel’s type III and IX. In 6.7% of subjects, the hepatic artery could not be visualized. Normal anatomy of left hepatic duct was seen in 66.7% of females and 33.3% of males with a significant p value of 0.0135. Right hepatic duct was normal in 69.6% females and 30.4% of males with a significant p value of 0.05. The lateral insertion of cystic duct which is considered normal is found in 52.2% of females and 47.8% of males with a significant p value of 0.56. Michel’s type I variant was observed in 61.5% of females and 38.5% of males with a p value of 0.5. Conclusion: Our study described the prevalence of anatomical variations of biliary tract in our study population and also delineated the hepatic artery and its variations to some extent without using contrast.