A 74-year-old male presented with jaundice for one month associated with generalized pruritus, epigastric pain, anorexia, and weight loss. On clinical examination, the patient was thin built and icteric with palpable gall bladder.\nLiver function test was consistent with obstructive jaundice with total bilirubin of 154 μmol/l, direct of 152 μmol/l, SGOT of 147 U/l, SGPT of 67 U/l, and ALP of 731 U/l.\nTransabdominal ultrasonography revealed hepatomegaly, moderately dilated IHBD and CBD, and distended gall bladder.\nContrast-enhanced CT of the abdomen with pancreas specific protocol revealed enhancing soft tissue density in the distal common bile duct with upstream dilatation of the CBD, CHD, and IHBD.\nWith the diagnosis of distal cholangiocarcinoma, the patient underwent Whipple's pancreaticoduodenectomy. After dividing the common hepatic duct, two openings were appreciated indicating that the division of common hepatic duct occurred at the confluence. However, on further evaluation, it was appreciated that the confluence was intact and it was the septum in the CHD that was giving the false impression. On detailed evaluation of the resected specimen, a septum extending from the hilum with cystic duct opening on the right side () to the distal end of the bile duct was appreciated, suggesting duplication of the common bile duct. However, the septum was not extending up to the papilla ().\nThis anatomical variation was not appreciated in the imaging preoperatively. A retrospective evaluation of the cross-sectional imaging revealed an incomplete septum extending from the hilum to the distal end of the common bile duct (Figures and ).
A 77-year-old woman presented to the outpatient department of our hospital complaining of recurrent epigastric pain.\nPatient’s symptoms started a month ago with recurrent episodes, with no history of fever, chills, or vomiting.\nThe patient had a history of laparoscopic cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis 2 years earlier at another hospital. She had undergone endoscopic retrograde cholan-giopancreatography (ERCP) twice for choledocholithiasis before undergoing cholecystectomy.\nThe patient did not have a history of drinking or smoking. There was no remarkable family medical history.\nPhysical examination did not reveal tenderness or signs of peritoneal irrigation, and the bowel sounds were normal. At the outpatient clinic, her temperature was 36.7 °C, pulse rate was 70 beats/min, and blood pressure was 122/82 mm Hg.\nBlood analysis showed normal complete blood cell count, liver function test and C-reactive protein.\nComputed tomography (CT) imaging revealed a dilated CBD that harboured multiple choledocholithiasis (Figure ). After admission, ERCP was subsequently performed, and the stones were extracted using a Dormia basket (MTW Endoskopie, Wesel, Germany) (Figure ) after endoscopic papillary balloon dilatation by a CRETM balloon dilatation catheters (Boston Scientific Corporation, Natick, MA, United States). A 5 Fr endoscopic nasobiliary drainage (ENBD) catheter (ENBD-5, Cook Medical, Bloomington, IN, United States) was inserted at the end of the procedure. A day after the ERCP, tubography via the ENBD catheter was performed to confirm the presence of residual stones in the bile duct. However, no definite filling defects were observed on tubography (Figure ). The patient was discharged without any complications of ERCP. A day after discharge, she visited the emergency department with complaints of severe epigastric pain and fever. Her temperature was 38.2 °C, pulse rate was 79 beats/min, and blood pressure was 149/85 mm Hg. Laboratory findings were suggestive of cholestasis [aspartate aminotransferase, 210 U/L (normal: 0–35 U/L); alanine aminotransferase, 134 U/L (0-35); alkaline phosphatase, 201 U/L (30-120); gamma glutamyl transferase, 184 U/L (9-64); total bilirubin, 2.77 mg/dL (0.3-1.2); direct bilirubin, 1.32 mg/dL (0-0.2); and C-reactive protein 6.91 mg/dL]. A CT scan demonstrated another dilated extrahepatic bile duct draining the right lobe of the liver, which also contained stones in the distal portion (Figure ). An urgent ERCP was performed as the stones were impacted at the ampulla (Figure ), and the stones with pus were retrieved using a balloon catheter (Escort II® Double Lumen Extraction Balloon, Cook Medical, Bloomington, IN, United States). A 10 Fr, 5 cm endoscopic retrograde biliary drainage tube (Cotton-Leung Biliary Stent, Cook Medical, Bloomington, IN, United States) was then placed in the CBD.\nMagnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) was performed to evaluate the delicate structures of the CBD and to check for any remnant stones. MRCP revealed DCBD independently draining the left and right lobes of the liver, that created a short segment intrapancreatic CBD (Figure ) without a communicating channel, that was consistent with the DCBD Type Va as classified by Choi et al[,]. Residual choledocholithiasis was also noted in the right CBD. There was no evidence of anomalous union of the pancreaticobiliary duct on MRCP.