Sonographic diameter of the common hepatic duct in sickle cell anemia.

The maximum diameter of the common hepatic duct was measured from the cholecystosonograms of 95 children and young adults with proven sickle cell anemia. Four mm was considered the upper limit of normal. Half the patients were male, half were female; 40% had gallstones and 25% had signs and symptoms of acute biliary diseases. The diameter of the common hepatic duct was normal in all but six patients. In five of these, the degree of enlargement was minor (1-3 mm). Three of the six patients with enlarged ducts had acute cholangitis without obstruction, two had clinically "silent" enlargements, and one had symptomatic biliary obstruction by calculi. Simple measurement of common hepatic duct diameter is not a sensitive or specific indicator of biliary disease in patients with sickle cell anemia.