Preoperative hepatobiliary imaging: what does the radiologist need to know?

Accurate preoperative reporting is essential in guiding the surgeon in deciding when and how to operate safely and effectively. Critically, this relies on an understanding of the operative issues faced by the surgeon, which is not always appreciated by the radiologist. This paper therefore aims to address this, first focusing on relevant anatomical variants, and then issues specific to laparoscopic cholecystectomy, hepatic transplantation, and finally hepatic resection (including cholangiocarcinoma resection). Throughout the paper, there is an emphasis on associated surgical techniques to add context to the discussion.