Objective

The purpose of this article is to investigate the determinants of second-order bile duct visualization at CT cholangiography in living potential liver donors.

Materials and methods

We retrospectively identified 143 potential living liver donors (83 men and 60 women; mean age, 37 years) evaluated with CT cholangiography, which included a slow infusion of iodipamide meglumine with CT acquisition 15 minutes after biliary contrast agent administration. Two readers independently scored the visualization of the second-order bile duct branches on a previously established 4-point scale (0 = not seen, 1 = faintly seen, 2 = well seen, and 3 = excellent visualization). Multivariate analysis was used to investigate the correlation between visualization scores and potential determinants of second-order bile duct opacification, specifically age, body mass index, creatinine level, total and direct bilirubin levels, alkaline phosphatase level, aspartate aminotransferase level, alanine aminotransferase level, patient maximum linear width, CT noise, and hepatosplenic attenuation difference at unenhanced CT.

Results

The mean (± SD) second-order bile duct visualization scores were 2.35 ± 0.66 and 2.55 ± 0.60 for readers 1 and 2, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, the only independent predictors of reduced second-order bile duct visualization were higher alkaline phosphatase level (p = 0.01) and higher CT noise (p = 0.02).

Conclusion

Higher serum alkaline phosphatase level and higher CT noise in potential living liver donors indicate a higher risk of poor second-order bile duct visualization at CT cholangiography.