Biliary Fascioliasis Mimicking Focal Cholangiocarcinoma on PET/CT

Na, Seung Youn; Cha, Sang-Woo; Lee, Byung Hoo; Lee, Woong Chul; Choo, Jin Woo; Kim, Jin Nyoung; Cho, Young Deok; Yang, Seung-Oh

Korean J Pancreas Biliary Tract > Volume 17(2):2012 > Article

Case Reports

The Korean Journal of Pancreas and Biliary Tract 2012;17(2):37-41.

Biliary Fascioliasis Mimicking Focal Cholangiocarcinoma on PET/CT

나승윤, 차상우, 이병후, 이웅철, 주진우

Biliary Fascioliasis Mimicking Focal Cholangiocarcinoma on PET/CT

Seung Youn Na, Sang-Woo Cha, Byung Hoo Lee, Woong Chul Lee, Jin Woo Choo, Jin Nyoung Kim, Young Deok Cho, Seung-Oh Yang

Institute for Digestive Research, Digestive Disease Center, Department of Internal Medicine,

ABSTRACT

Fascioliasis is a zoonotic infection caused by a trematode of the liver, fasciola hepatica. The infection cycle begins in the human when aquatic vegetation or contaminated water is ingested. The clinical manifestrations can mimic most other obstructive, inflammatory, or neoplastic hepatobiliary disease. We present the case of a patient with high SUV (standardized uptake variable) at the common hepatic duct hilum area on 15F-FDG PET/CT (positron emission tomography and computed tomography). The lesion was interpreted as a hypermetabolic malignancy such as focal cholangiocarcinoma. The final diagnosis was reached by endoscopic removal of the Fasciola hepatica.

Keywords: fascioliasis, liver fluke, cholangiocarcinoma, PET/CT, ERCP