Percutaneous Management of Benign Biliary Strictures with Large-Bore Catheters: Comparison between Patients with and without Orthotopic Liver Transplantation

Purpose: To prospectively evaluate stricture resolution and patency rates of benign biliary strictures treated with percutaneous large-bore, catheter "stenting" in patients with and without previous orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and to compare treatment outcomes between these two groups. Materials and Methods: Forty-six consecutive patients (25 with OLT) underwent percutaneous catheter placement in extrahepatic and single-site biliary stricture for 6-8 months, with progressive catheter upsizing to 18-20 F. Primary patency rate was defined as the proportion of patients without recurrent bile duct stricture during the follow-up period after successful stricture resolution. Secondary patency rate was defined as the proportion of patients with a patent bile duct at the end of follow-up after stricture resolution, including patients with stricture recurrence and successful repeat percutaneous biliary catheter treatment. Results: Eleven patients terminated the protocol early, 6 as a result of treatment-related reasons in the orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) group. Sixty-four percent of the OLT group and 86.4% of control patients successfully completed the protocol, with resolved biliary strictures (P = .1) after a, median treatment time of 7 months for both groups (P = .96). During mean follow-up times of 20.3 months +/- 11.8 (standard deviation) and 13.1 months +/- 11.73 for OLT and non-OLT patients (P = .08), respectively, the primary/secondary patency rates were comparable between groups, at 81.25%/87.5% for OLT patients and 89.5%/100% for non-OLT patients (P = .64/P = .2). The mean time to recurrent stricture was 11.2 months +/- 11.88. Conclusions: Percutaneous large-bore catheter treatment of benign, single-site biliary strictures showed a promising rate of stricture resolution, with comparable high primary and secondary patency rates in patients with and without previous OLT.