Letter to the Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. May 26, 2024; 12(15): 2678-2681
Published online May 26, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i15.2678
Imaging features of malignant vs stone-induced biliary obstruction: Aspects to consider
Cristian Lindner
Cristian Lindner, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Concepción, Concepción 4030000, Chile
Author contributions: Lindner C wrote this article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Cristian Lindner, Doctor, MD, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Concepción, No. 1290 Victor Lamas, Concepción 4030000, Chile. Clindner@udec.cl
Received: February 8, 2024
Revised: April 3, 2024
Accepted: April 10, 2024
Published online: May 26, 2024
Processing time: 95 Days and 17.5 Hours
Abstract

Radiological studies play a crucial role in the evaluation of patients with biliary duct obstruction, allowing for the guidance of clinical diagnosis towards a malignant or stone-induced etiology through the recognition of relevant imaging features, which must be continuously revisited given their prognostic significance. This article aims to emphasize the importance of recognizing crucial imaging aspects of malignant and stone-induced biliary obstruction.

Keywords: Malignant biliary obstruction; Choledocholithiasis; Dilated bile ducts; Magnetic resonance; Multidetector computed tomography

Core Tip: Recognizing the radiological aspects of biliary obstruction is crucial for distinguishing between lithiasis and malignant origins, thereby facilitating the diagnosis and management of this pathology.