Abstract:
Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) is a popular modality for evaluation of the biliary tract, yet there is no data on the normal common bile duct (CBD) size of the average Sudanese adult. This study attempts to establish a reference range for CBD diameter and pancreatic duct for the Sudanese population and to correlate this measurement with age and gender.
The size of the common bile duct and pancreatic duct were measured by using MRI in 34 male and 34 female, the data used in this study were collected from two hospitals in Khartoum state; Al Moa’lim Medical City and Royal Care hospital in the period from October 2018 to April 2019.
The results of this study showed that among the 80 subjects, the CBD and PD diameter were 6.18 ± 0.7 mm (range 4.0 – 8.0 mm), 3.8 ± 0.5 mm (range 2.0 – 5.0 mm) respectively. There is a significant correlation between common bile duct and pancreatic duct diameter with body weight (r = 0.41, 0.46 respectively p < 0.001). Also the results showed that the mean of common bile duct and pancreatic duct (PD) diameters were significantly different in male and female (p < 0.01). Other factors, including age and body length were not related to the CBD and PD diameter.
This is a useful reference in today's clinical setting where MRCP are commonly performed for evaluation of suspected biliary tract disease. Further studies in measuring common bile duct and pancreatic duct with larger sample of population are recommended.
