Abstract: Objective To investigate the clinical value of abdominal CT angiography (CTA) in evaluating resectability of hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Methods The clinical data of 86 patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma diagnosed pathologically in Department of Surgery this hospital were reviewed from January 2013 to December 2018. All patients underwent CT scan and CTA preoperatively for assessing of surgical resectability of hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Results A total of 53 patients (61.63%) had radical resection (R0 resection) in 86 patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Remaining 33 patients underwent palliative surgery because of vascular invasion, distant lymph node metastasis or extensive intra-abdominal metastasis. CTA provided higher accuracy in evaluating major vascular invasion near the hepatic hilum with sensitivity 78.79%, specificity 92.45% and accuracy 87.21%. In evaluating lymph node metastasis near the hepatic hilum, CTA provided sensitivity only 42.86%. CTA evaluated distant metastasis with same sensitivity 42.86%. Conclusions CTA has certain advantages in evaluating major vascular invasion near the hepatic hilum. However, the sensitivity of CTA is poor in evaluating hilar lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis.

Key words: Hilar cholangiocarcinoma, CT angiography, Vascular invasion