Radiology of excessive mucus production as a complication of congenital bile duct abnormalities.

Biliary obstruction was caused by viscid mucus in two patients with congenital bile duct abnormalities. In one patient this produced a progressive dilatation and obstruction of the common bile duct which eventually led to the patient's death; in the other there was a progressive segmental dilatation of the biliary tree which was surgically resected. We wish to emphasize that bile duct mucus has a characteristic appearance on cholangiography but is difficult to recognize on ultrasound and CT scans.