The diagnostic criteria for cholangitis are:

1. fever or abdominal pain in the right upper quadrant;

2. endoscopic or radiologic (sonography or CT) evidence of biliary tract obstruction owing to stones, stricture, or tumor; and

3. laboratory evidence of hyperbilirubinemia and elevated alkaline phosphatase.

 

References:

1. Lee CC, Chang IJ, Lai YC, Chen SY, Chen SC. Epidemiology and prognostic determinants of patients with bacteremic cholecystitis or cholangitis. Am. J. Gastroenterol. 2007 Mar;102(3):563-9. [Medline]