1989 Volume 3 Issue 4 Pages 476-483
Over the past 16 years,4 cases of hepatolithiasis complicated by intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma were encountered at our hospital. In all of these cases, the definite diagnosis of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma could not be passed before histological examination during or after surgery. In 2 cases, hepatectomy was performed. In the remaining 2 cases, surgical treatment of the carcinoma was impossible. In one case, cholangiocarcinoma was detected by biopsy during endoscopic lithectomy, suggesting the importance of repeated endoscopic biopsy of the biliary tract in patients with hepatolithiasis for the detection of complication by cancer. In another case, chronic proliferative cholangitis and papillary growth of the epithelium of the bile duct were found in the cancer-free areas, suggesting an association between calculus-caused chronic stimulation and carcinogenesis.
