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...

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a diagnostic method and treatment approach for biliary diseases. However, biliary cannulation can be difficult in some cases. We performed ERCP in a 97-year-old woman with abdominal pain resulting from acute cholangitis caused by choledocholithiasis and observed difficult biliary cannulation. Eventually, the patient was successfully treat...

Chronic liver diseases represent a significant public health problem worldwide. The degree of liver fibrosis secondary to these diseases is important, because it is the main predictor of their evolution and prognosis. Hyaluronic acid is studied as a non-invasive marker of liver fibrosis in chronic liver diseases, in an attempt to avoid the complications of liver puncture biopsy, considered the ...

Several distinct conditions are characterized by a reduction in the number of small and medium-sized intrahepatic bile ducts. These diseases are associated with progressive cholestasis, which in turn leads to biliary fibrosis and ultimately cirrhosis. The best-characterized ductopenic condition in adulthood is primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) for which there is now strong evidence of an autoimmu...

Parasitic diseases of the biliary tract occur frequently in tropical and subtropical areas and cause high morbidity and mortality. In general, neither the clinical presentation nor the general laboratory findings are sufficiently unique to raise the possibility of a parasitic biliary infestation in the mind of the surgeon. Once considered, however, the presence of a parasitic biliary infestatio...

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Stool examination is believed to be the most reliable method for detecting Clonorchis sinensis (CS) eggs. However, it has limited value for diagnosing clonorchiasis when the biliary tract is obstructed or when there is a light infection. We evaluated the infection states of CS in patients with biliary tract diseases using a bile sample. From January 2001 to August 2003, 238 patients who had und...

Biliary stents are widely used not only for palliative treatment of malignant biliary obstruction but also for benign biliary diseases. Each plastic stent or self-expandable metal stent (SEMS) has its own advantages, and a proper stent should be selected carefully for individual condition. To compensate and overcome several drawbacks of SEMS, functional self-expandable metal stent (FSEMS) has b...

Autoimmune biliary disease is an umbrella term that encompasses several distinct entities such as primary sclerosing cholangitis, primary biliary cirrhosis, autoimmune hepatitis and overlap syndromes. The general approach to the diagnosis of these disorders involves investigating symptomatic patients presenting with a cholestatic biochemical profile. Asymptomatic patients are often diagnosed du...

Breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP/ABCG2) is an ATP-binding cassette transport protein that is expressed in several organs including the liver. Previous studies have shown that ABC transport proteins play an important pathophysiological role in several liver diseases. However, to date, expression pattern and possible role of BCRP in human liver diseases and animal models have not been studi...