[The usefulness of MRCP in the initial diagnosis of the biliary and pancreatic diseases compared with ERCP].

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness and the limitation of the MR cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) in the initial diagnosis for the biliary and pancreatic diseases compared with the image of Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). MRCP showed higher performance toward the discovery of the choledocholithiasis of a diameter 4 mm and more. Furthermore, MRCP reflected a malignant tumor at the constrictive part and the dilated proximal part of the biliary and pancreatic duct in 23 example all. An advantage of ERCP was the ability to carry out biopsies and therapeutic procedures, such as biliary drainage and sphincterotomy, while MRCP was an important diagnostic modality in the work-up of the biliary and pancreatic diseases and could help in planning treatment. MRCP would become the examination method first used, and it would be popularized all the more from now on.