MR cholangiopancreatography

Since the introduction of MR cholangiopancreatography (MRCP), MR has assumed an important role as a noninvasive means of evaluating diseases of the pancreaticobiliary tract. Technical advances such as breath-hold sequences have resulted in MRCPs that permit depiction of subtle details of the ductal systems and allow for accurate diagnosis of a variety of diseases. This article addresses MRCP techniques and some of the many clinical applications of MRCP that include the evaluation of choledocholithiasis, malignancies, congenital anomalies, primary sclerosing cholangitis, the postoperative biliary tract and gastrointestinal tract, acute and chronic pancreatitis, and diseases of the gallbladder. As a result of the diagnostic accuracy of MRCP, MRCP has replaced diagnostic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in some instances.