Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) is a well-established non-invasive imaging technique used for the assessment of the normal anatomy, anatomical variants and pathologies of the intra-hepatic and extra-hepatic bile ducts as well as the pancreatic duct.
Typically, MRCP uses T2 heavily weighted images where bile and pancreatic juices appear hyperintense relative to the surrounding tissues. Protocols of MRCP currently use two and three-dimensional techniques.
The two-dimensional sequencesinclude thin section MR imaging gives contiguous images with no gap and thick-slab MR images provide an overview of the anatomic structures with the goal of capturing the entire biliary tree or pancreatic duct on one image.
The three-dimensional sequences produce images that are contiguous. These images are ideal for multiplanar and minimal intensity projection (MIP) reconstructions. With recent technical advances better image quality is obtained, which is achieved with the coronal 3D isotropic TSE sequence. This sequence provides detailed anatomical information for delineation of small anatomical structures as well as allows multiplanar and volumetric reconstruction.