CT-profile of bare jaundice in a Congolese population followed at The Rock Imaging Center in Kinshasa

Abstract

Context and objective. The prevalence of liver pathologies has been increasing since the advent of more sophisticated medical imaging methods. Our objective was to describe the CT aspects of liver pathologies observed at CIMR. Methods. This was a descriptive observational study of a retrospective series of 304 cases received at the ROCHER Medical Imaging Center (CIMR) in Kinshasa over a period of 24 months, going from January 2020 to January 2022. The parameters of the interests were sociodemographic, clinical and CT. Results. The average age was 55.42±16.6 years with the range from 35 to 71 years with a F/M sex ratio of 1.3. The characterization of a mass and the exploration of cholestasis represented the most frequent indications. Furthermore, the average age of patients with solid masses ( 57.2±9.9 years) was statistically higher (p=0.031) compared to the average age of patients with fluid masses (49.7± 9.8 years). Bile duct dilatations were accompanied by detectable masses in 88.2%. The same observation was made in the dilatations of VBIH and normal VBP (n=35) which were accompanied by tumor lesion in 88.6%. Out of a total of 146 cases of diffuse pathologies observed, cirrhosis was found in 85% compared to 15% of cases for fatty liver. Conclusion. CT makes it possible to highlight liver pathologies in a certain frequency. Solid lesions classified LI-RADS 5 and LI-RADS 4 are the most common (18%). While biliary cysts and abscesses are the most commonly found fluid masses.