Cholangiography

Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (PTC)

A percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (per-kew-tay-nee-us trans-hep-attic col-an-jee-og-raf-ee) is a way of looking at your bile ducts using x-rays. This test is also called PTC.  Your doctor puts a long thin needle through the skin and into your liver and bile ducts. They take x-rays of the pancreas, gallbladder and bile ducts. They can also take samples (biopsies) of any abnormal looking areas. You usually have a PTC if you can’t have an ERCP for any reason or if you have had an ERCP but it didn’t work. For example, if doctors weren’t able to take samples of tissue or drain the bile ducts. Why

Cholangiography

Cholangiography means looking at the structure of the bile ducts and gallbladder. It can help to find the size of a cancer and whether it has spread. What is cholangiography? Cholangiography means putting a dye called a contrast medium into the bile ducts and gallbladder to show them up clearly on x-ray. Preparing for your test You might have a blood test 2 days beforehand to check how well your blood clots. Tell your doctor if you’re having medicine that changes how your blood clots. This includes: aspirin clopidogrel arthritis medicines warfarin or heparin apixaban, rivaroxaban, dabigatran, edoxaban or betrixaban Your doctor will