Utility of MRCP in surveillance of primary sclerosing cholangitis associated hepatobiliary malignancy: 15 year experience at a single institution in Ontario, Canada

• Published in: Clinical imaging Vol. 81; pp. 47 - 53
• Main Authors: Nair, Anirudh Venugopalan, Macdonald, D. Blair, Kelly, Erin M., Satheesh, Soumya, Venugopalan, Prasanna, Soman, Deepak Kuttikatt
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Elsevier Inc 01.01.2022; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Bile ducts; Biopsy; Bladder cancer; Cholangiocarcinoma; Cholangitis; Communications systems; Complications; Data collection; Diagnosis; Endoscopy; Gallbladder; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Histopathology; Liver cancer; Liver diseases; Magnetic resonance imaging; Malignancy; MRCP; Patients; Population studies; Primary sclerosing cholangitis; Surveillance; Canada; PSC; GB Ca; Surveillance; MRCP; HCC; Primary sclerosing cholangitis; ERCP; Cholangiocarcinoma
• ISSN: 0899-7071; 1873-4499
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clinimag.2021.08.007

Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) is used for the surveillance of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and its associated complications. The time interval gap for subsequent follow-up MRCP is variable depending on clinical practice patterns, therefore this study was done to assess the MRCP follow-up strategy used in our institution for screening PSC-associated hepatobiliary malignancies. This retrospective observational cohort included MRCP studies in adult patients, with clinical and radiological diagnosis of PSC over the past 15-year period between January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2018. The study population was grouped based on the presence and absence of PSC-associated malignancy. The frequency of MRCP follow-up was compared between the groups to look for MRI ordering trends in surveillance for PSC-associated complications. The overall median interval follow-up with MRCP was 14 months. The median follow-up interval in cases with PSC-associated malignancy was 6.0 months, compared to 13.1 months in the PSC group without malignancy (p 0.013). During the study period, the PSC-associated malignancy group had a median number of 7.5 scans, while the no malignancy group had a median number of 4 scans. Three patients (3/10, 30%) developed hepatobiliary malignancies within the first year of clinical diagnosis of PSC. The most common malignancy associated with PSC was cholangiocarcinoma (4.6%,7/10). Other PSC-associated malignancies included carcinoma gallbladder (1.3%,2/10), and hepatocellular carcinoma (0.6%,1/10). The median age of PSC associated malignancies was 56 (IQR 15) and higher compared to median age of PSC group without malignancies 46 (IQR 25.5), p 0.035. The median interval for subsequent follow-up MRCP in our study cohort was 14 months. One-third of PSC-associated hepato-biliary malignancies developed within the first year of clinical diagnosis of PSC, and the risk of PSC-associated hepato-biliary malignancy is constant after the first year. •Annual MRCP follow-up was the preferred practice pattern at our institution, with shorter interval gap triggered by recognition of disease deterioration.•The yield of detecting hepatobiliary malignancy in PSC surveillance is highest within the first year of diagnosis of PSC.•Incidence of PSC associated malignancies was higher in older patients when compared to patients with no malignancies.