Published online Jun 16, 2021. doi: 10.4253/wjge.v13.i6.170
Peer-review started: January 25, 2021
First decision: March 1, 2021
Revised: March 15, 2021
Accepted: May 20, 2021
Article in press: May 20, 2021
Published online: June 16, 2021
Processing time: 136 Days and 4 Hours
There have been many documented variations of the anatomy of the intra-hepatic bile ducts, but to the best of our knowledge there has been no report on bile duct variations in Caribbean populations. This information is important to optimize healthcare services for providers with interests in treating liver disorders.
This research sought to determine the bile duct variations in a Caribbean population. This will help to optimize hepatobiliary services in the region. We have also defined the global prevalence which will serve as a basis for further research in this field.
We sought to document the variations in bile duct anatomy using magnetic resonance cholangiography (MRC) at a major hepatobiliary referral centre in the Eastern Caribbean.
We evaluated MRC images from 152 consecutive patients over a two-year period and described biliary anatomy according to the Huang’s classification. A systematic review of all available published studies was performed. Raw data were extracted and used to calculate the global prevalence of each variant for comparisons to the variants in our population.
Classic anatomy was present in 71.7% of persons and 28.3% of persons had variant anatomy. The most common variant was Huang type 2 (19%), followed by type 3 (4.6%), type 4 (3.95%) and type 5 (0). One variant did not fit the Huang classification system. This Caribbean population had a significantly greater number of type 2 variants (19.1% vs 11.5%; P = 0.0069), but a significantly lower incidence of type 3 variants (4.61% vs 11.5%; P = 0.0047).
There are significant differences in biliary anatomy in this Caribbean population compared to global statistics. The new method this study proposes is to use the definition of global prevalence to compare anatomic variations.
Future research can focus on variations of extra-hepatic biliary anomalies using the global prevalence template.