Calreticulin plays a critical role in the etiology of multiple autoimmune diseases. It is unknown, however, whether calreticulin levels are of clinical significance for patients with biliary atresia. This study was to confirm possible correlations between serum calreticulin levels and the immunohistochemical features of biliary atresia. Serum was collected from 44 biliary atresia patients, 15 i...

The endoscopic placement of biliary stents for benign and malignant biliary disease has been performed for over a decade. Several complications of stent placement have been described such as pancreatitis, hemorrhage, cholangitis, and perforation. Migration of biliary stents is a rare event, which can cause severe complications such as gastrointestinal tract perforation. We report the case of a ...

The role of Mrp2, Bcrp, and P-glycoprotein in the biliary excretion of acetaminophen sulfate (AS) and glucuronide (AG), 4-methylumbelliferyl sulfate (4MUS) and glucuronide (4MUG), and harmol sulfate (HS) and glucuronide (HG) was studied in Abcc2(-/-), Abcg2(-/-), and Abcb1a(-/-)/Abcb1b(-/-) mouse livers perfused with the respective parent compounds using a cassette dosing approach. Biliary clea...

The etiology of biliary tract cancer is obscure, but there are evidences that bile acid plays a role in carcinogenesis. To find the association between biliary tract cancer and bile acid, this study compared the bile acid concentration and composition among patients with biliary cancer, biliary tract stones, and no biliary disease. Bile was compared among patients with biliary tract cancer (n =...

Aim of the study was to investigate the value of serum and bile neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) for distinguishing malignant strictures caused by cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) or pancreatic cancer from benign biliary strictures. The study was performed prospectively on patients admitted for endoscopic or radiologic biliary decompression. Forty patients with dilated biliary ducts, i...

The biliary tree consists of intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile ducts and is lined by biliary epithelial cells (or cholangiocytes). There are also peribiliary glands around the intrahepatic large bile ducts and extrahepatic bile ducts. The biliary tree is a conduit of bile secreted by hepatocytes and biliary epithelial cells and also of the peribiliary glands and has several physiological roles...

Thoracobiliary fistula is a rare complication of hydatid cyst disease of the liver especially in calcified form. Given the rarity and high mortality of such fistula, it is not surprising that there is no consensus about surgical treatment of this condition. In the present paper we report two cases of thoracobiliary fistula of complicated calcified hydatid cyst of the liver. A 64-year-old man wi...

Background: One of the most important post-operation problems encountered with Hepaticojejunostomy (Kasai operation) in patients with biliary atresia is cholangitis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of anti-reflux valve in decreasing the incidence of cholangitis after hepaticojejunostomy. Methods: Ten dogs were randomly divided into two groups of equal size. In group A Roux-...

Nineteen biliary strictures were dilated using a modified angioplasty balloon catheter to allow insertion of a 10F prosthesis. In each instance biliary strictures were successfully dilated which had previously been too tight to widen with standard endoscopic biliary dilating catheters. Eleven patients had malignant hilar strictures, four malignant distal common bile duct strictures, and four be...