Association between juxtapapillary diverticulum and acute cholangitis determined using laboratory data

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between juxtapapillary diverticulum (JD) and acute cholangitis (AC), and to analyze laboratory data to reveal the underlying mechanism. We conducted a retrospective review of 139 patients who underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) between April 2008 and March 2013 for diagnosis or treatment of biliary tract conditions. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for comparison of variables between patients with or without JD. The χ(2) test was used to analyze the association between JD and AC duct dilatation. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify variables with strong correlation with AC. ERCP was attempted in 139 patients, but in one patient the endoscope did not reach the papilla of Vater because of a partial gastrectomy, and in two patients evaluation for JD was not possible because of duodenal or papilla of Vater cancer. Therefore, 136 patients were included in this study. JD was significantly associated with AC (P<0.0001) and bile-duct dilatation (P=0.0107), and AC was strongly associated with bile duct dilatation (P=0.0013). Alkaline phosphatase levels were significantly elevated in patients with JD (P=0.0237). In AC patients without JD, χ(2) for C-reactive protein was 4.48 (P=0.0342), whereas in AC patients with JD, χ(2) values for the white blood cell count, alkaline phosphatase, and aspartate aminotransferase were 2.62, 3.1, and 3.61, respectively (P=0.025, 0.015, and 0.0336, respectively). JD was strongly associated with AC. Logistic regression analysis suggested that bile flow was disturbed with JD.