Computed tomography and obstructive biliary disease.

Forty-four patients with confirmed biliary diseases were studied to determine the value of computed tomography (CT) in the diagnosis of biliary pathology. The results indicate that CT is useful and highly accurate in differentiating between obstructive (surgical) and nonobstructive (medical) disease entities. Of the cases with proved obstruction, 88% were correctly identified. All of the nonobstructive cases had positive CT correlation. In addition, the underlying cause of the occlusion was determined in the majority of cases.