Open AccessCholangiocarcinoma: Pictorial Essay of CT and Cholangiographic Findings
Author(s) -
Joon Koo Han,
Byung Ihn Choi,
Ah Young Kim,
So Young An,
Joon Woo Lee,
Tae Kyung Kim,
SunWhe Kim
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
radiographics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.866
H-Index - 172
eISSN - 1527-1323
pISSN - 0271-5333
DOI - 10.1148/radiographics.22.1.g02ja15173
Subject(s) - medicine , intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma , pathology , intrahepatic bile ducts , peripheral , bile duct , extrahepatic bile ducts , duct (anatomy)
Cholangiocarcinomas that involve areas from the peripheral intrahepatic duct to the distal common duct have similar morphologic features, and traditional classification schemes based on the location of the involved ducts sometimes overlap. Nevertheless, cholangiocarcinoma is usually classified as either intrahepatic or extrahepatic, and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is further classified as either peripheral or hilar. However, the distinction between peripheral intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and hilar cholangiocarcinoma is largely based on the site of origin. Therefore, in some tumors that arise peripheral to the secondary bifurcation of one of the hepatic ducts, clear differentiation between the two types of cholangiocarcinoma is not always possible. In addition, the distinction between hilar cholangiocarcinoma and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is not clearly defined. The different biologic behaviors of the tumors seem to be caused by their varying locations and their size at the time of diagnosis. Further molecular or biochemical investigation is needed to support the "field theory," which states that all cholangiocarcinomas are biologically the same tumor originating from the same biliary epithelium.