Improvement of MR cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) images after black tea consumption

Objective: Evaluation of the efficacy of black tea as the negative oral contrast agent in MRCP.

Materials and methods: MRCP was performed before and 5 and 15 min after tea consumption for 35 patients. Depiction of the gall bladder (GB), cystic duct (CD), proximal and distal parts of the common bile duct (CBD), intrahepatic ducts (IHD), ampulla of vater (AV), main pancreatic duct (MPD) and signal loss of stomach and three different segments of the duodenum were investigated according to VAS and Likert scores.

Results: Twenty-one of the patients (60%) were female (mean age, 50.3 ± 19.2 years). Regarding visibility of different anatomical parts of the pancreatobiliary tree, the post procedure images were better visualized in the distal part of CBD, AV and MPD in Likert and VAS scoring (all P ≤ 0.001). Regarding obliteration of high signal in the stomach and three different parts of the duodenum, all post procedure images showed significant disappearance of high signal in Likert and VAS scoring systems (all Ps ≤ 0.001).

Conclusion: Black tea is a simple and safe negative oral contrast agent which reduces the signal intensity of gastrointestinal tract fluid and provides improved depiction of the MPD, the distal CBD and the ampulla during MRCP. Key Points •Tea is an effective negative oral contrast agent for gastrointestinal MRI •Ingestion of black tea improves conspicuity of the distal CBD in MRCP.