Open AccessProspective Evaluation of Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography in the Diagnosis of Periampullary Cancers
Author(s) -
T. Hall,
Michael O. Blackstone,
M. J. Cooper,
R G Hughes,
A. R. Moossa
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
annals of surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.153
H-Index - 309
eISSN - 1528-1140
pISSN - 0003-4932
DOI - 10.1097/00000658-197803000-00018
Subject(s) - medicine , endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography , periampullary cancer , ampulla of vater , ampulla , pancreatitis , pancreatic cancer , prospective cohort study , common bile duct , radiology , cancer , gastroenterology , carcinoma
In a prospective study of 112 patients suspected of periampullary cancer endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) was successfully performed in 87 patients (78%). Technical failures were due to gastric outlet obstruction in four patients and inability to cannulate the ampulla of Vater in 21 patients. Successfully performed ERCP had both a high sensitivity (92%) and specificity (90%) for periampullary cancer. The few errors in pancreatogram interpretation were due to juxta-ductal cancers and difficulty in differentiating duct changes of cancer from those of chronic pancreatitis. Pancreatic cytology, performed in 21 patients, was reliable, diagnosed two pancreatic cancers when the pancreatogram failed and, if used routinely, assists interpretation of the pancreatogram. Retrograde cholangiography provided a correct diagnosis in six jaundiced patients with normal pancreatograms. Three complications of ERCP occurred in this series.