Abstract:Objective To explore the incidence, spectrum of biliary and pancreatic diseases, and morphology of bile and pancreatic ducts in patients with horizontal duodenal papilla (HDP) who had suspected biliary and pancreatic diseases. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on data of consecutive patients who underwent magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) at the First Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University from January 2021 to December 2021. Patients were divided into HDP group and regular group based on their papilla position. The incidence of biliary and pancreatic diseases was compared. The angle between the common bile duct (CBD), pancreatic duct, and duodenum, and the length of the extrahepatic bile duct were measured and compared between the two groups. Results A total of 1 009 MRCP cases that met the inclusion criteria were analyzed. The incidence of HDP was 3.1% (31/1 009). No other ectopic papilla was found. Compared with the regular group, the HDP group had a significantly higher proportion of congenital choledochal cysts [9.7% (3/31) VS 0.8% (8/978), P=0.004] and anomalous biliary-pancreatic duct junction [6.5% (2/31) VS 0.9% (9/978), P=0.042], and a numerically higher incidence of gallbladder cancer without significant difference [6.5% (2/31) VS 1.4% (14/978), P=0.084]. Patients in the HDP group had longer median extrahepatic bile ducts (8.6 cm VS 7.2 cm, Z=-5.48, P<0.001), and the median angles between CBD-duodenum (86.6° VS 38.3°, Z=-7.63, P<0.001), CBD-pancreatic duct (18.0° VS 40.8°, Z=-5.54, P<0.001) and pancreatic duct-duodenum (102.0° VS 77.3°, Z=-5.68, P<0.001) were significantly different from those in the regular group. Conclusion HDP in patients with suspected biliary and pancreatic diseases is not rare. It may be associated with developmental abnormalities of biliary and pancreatic ducts, and the relationship with gallbladder cancer deserves further exploration with larger sample sizes. Differences in the length and angle of the extrahepatic bile duct are observed in patients with HDP compared to the normal population.