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Radiologic features of pancreatic and biliary complications following composite visceral transplantation

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Abstract

Small bowel transplantation is a surgical technique reserved for patients with end-stage intestinal failure. Despite its inherent technical difficulties, it has emerged as the standard of care for these patients. This article reviews the background and different surgical techniques for this procedure and then fully describes the spectrum of imaging findings of pancreatic and biliary complications, which have a prevalence of up to 17%, after this procedure based on 23-year single-center experience. The pancreaticobiliary complications encountered in our experience and discussed in this article include: ampullary stenosis, biliary cast, choledocholithiasis, bile leak, recurrent cholangitis, acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, and pancreatic duct fistula. Familiarity with the broad spectrum of PB complications and their variable manifestations will help radiologists to accurately diagnose these complications which have relatively high morbidity and mortality in these immune-compromised patients.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no relevant financial interests to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Abdominal Imaging, Department of Radiology, UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 200 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Amir A. Borhani, Anil K. Dasyam, Alessandro Furlan & Kyongtae T. Bae

  2. Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition, Department of Medicine, UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 200 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Georgios Papachristou & Adam Slivka

  3. Division of Emergency Radiology, Department of Radiology, UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 200 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Omar Almusa

  4. Intestinal Transplant Program, Department of Surgery, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Mail Code A100, Cleveland Clinic Main Campus, 9500 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH, 44195, USA

    Kareem Abu-Elmagd

  5. Division of Transplant Surgery, Department of Surgery, UPMC Montefiore, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3459 Fifth Ave, 7 South, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Guilherme Costa

Authors
  1. Amir A. Borhani
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  2. Anil K. Dasyam
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  3. Georgios Papachristou
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  4. Alessandro Furlan
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  5. Omar Almusa
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  6. Kareem Abu-Elmagd
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  7. Guilherme Costa
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  8. Adam Slivka
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  9. Kyongtae T. Bae
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Correspondence to Amir A. Borhani.

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Borhani, A.A., Dasyam, A.K., Papachristou, G. et al. Radiologic features of pancreatic and biliary complications following composite visceral transplantation. Abdom Imaging 40, 1961–1970 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-014-0338-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-014-0338-z

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