Caroli’s disease

PubMed, the Internet portal of biomedical and life sciences literature, indexed an interesting article, entitled “Caroli’s disease.” (Laeknabladid. 2007 Sep;93(9):603-605). Authors are Aqustasson AI and Cariqlia N. In 1958 Caroli described a rare disease with multifocal, segmental and saccular dilation of the large intrahepatic bile ducts which causes stagnation of bile and formation of bile sludge and stones. This results in recurrent abdominal pain, cholangitis and hepatic abscesses. The diagnosis is confirmed with endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (PTC) and the purpose of treatment is to restore normal bile flow. The authors report a case where a male who had a history of recurrent bouts of abdominal pain and pancreatitis was diagnosed with Caroli’s disease. To access the full abstract of the article, click here.