Dilated common bile duct

[MrMagoo64]

I have been suffering with chronic pancreatitis for over 10 years now. After my latest CT scan, results showed a dial action of the common bile duct of 1.5 cm. I have read numerous explanations of what the cause might be, understanding very few of them. Not yet posing a question on a forum such as this, hopefully I can get a better understanding of what might be the cause. Good, bad, or indifferent, I still want to know. Thanks in advance to anyone that can help me with this. Take care.

[MrMagoo64]

Whoops, premature post. I plan on scanning the radiology report so I will have it in my laptop and tablet. Thanks for your help. I appreciate it.

[MrMagoo64]

Obviously you are in the medical field or have some experience in it. There was kind of a dual reason for the ct scan. My daily chronic pancreatic pain was actually getting worse again, but what was really worrisome was that for the past 7-8 months I have been having episodes of very intense chest pains. They seem to last between 5-15 minutes, and have scared the crap out of me due to the intensity of the pain. Acute pancreatic pain is probably the worst, but this chest pain was a close second if not tied. During one of the episodes I believe my heart rate shot up to 150. I have had stress tests, EKG's, all kinds. Doctor has yet to pinpoint it. There are also several other comments associated with the findings on the ct scan that after researching the phrases, have me worried when you put them all together. But then again, I have no knowledge of the medical field other than the basics for a layman. Soon as my other half gets done with the printer, I am going to scan my radiolo

[Zugga13]

What ever happened with the dilated bile duct?  Did you have any pain from it?  I have horrible right side pain over the liver and at my back with no diagnosis. I’ve had all scans that came back normal except for the extrahepatic bile duct dilation… at 1 cm. Just curious if you had pain or if you or anyone here think that dilation can cause severe pain?  Thanks

[fntn]

Let's hope it's a simple, benign issue like focally aggressive inflammation or maybe another cyst with both causing compression strictures, the simplest solutions are usually the case.

[MrMagoo64]

Thank you for the info. As I have dealt with the issue of chronic pancreatitis for over 10 years now, and have two pseudo cysts removed in the past, and knowing that I could have a higher risk of pancreatic cancer, whenever there is a moderate increase of pain and/or nausea or other symptoms, at least one my doctors usually orders a ct scan. Just got these ct scan results back, and will be seeing the doctor within the next few days, but I was concerned and wanted to try and do some research myself, as I have done regularly since being diagnosed with this very painful disease. I would imagine they may want to do another ERCP to find out the cause. As you said, if left untreated, the dialation and risk of more problems could increase. Thanks again!

[fntn]

Basically the fluid in both your bile and pancreatic ducts is actively being pushed out through the ducts into your duodenum through the Ampulla of Vater, just after the pancreatic duct merges into the common bile duct. So there a bit of back pressure to contend with, kinda like a garden hose when you pinch it off.

If anything were to block the duct(s), the flow will backup and cause dilation since the walls of the ducts are not meant to deal with high pressure. So in your case, either something is blocking both ducts just before the AOV (which may have led to your pancreatic issues) or your chronic pancreatitis itself has caused a stricture in the CBD leading to the dilation that they are seeing.

Your doctors will be determining how to best remove or lessen this stricture to relieve the back flow. If they don't do this, then you can develop cholangitis and will definitely be having a bad day. At 1.5 cm the dilation is moderate, it can cause very large dilation's if left untreated.

Good luck, hope they get things resolved for you.