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Radiological diagnosis of Klatskin's tumour

Klatskin Tumor with dilatation of bile ducts in the right and left lobe of the liver

Patients with Klatskin's tumour present clinically unspecific symptoms such as painless jaundice and cholangitic discomfort. The only curative treatment is R0 resection of the tumour. To allow stage-specific therapy, accurate tumour staging is indispensable, the first step of which is abdominal sonography. If there is a suspect finding, cross-sectional imaging techniques like MRI or MDR-CT are used to clarify or stage the lesion, respectively. To estimate resectability, MRI together with MRC and MRI angiography are superior to MDR-CT. Biopsy using ERC is required before starting any specific treatment. If therapeutically relevant peritoneal carcinosis is clinically suspected although not radiologically confirmed, PET should also be performed. The value of PET/CT has to be evaluated in further studies. For optimal treatment, close cooperation between clinicians and radiologists is necessary.