PANCREATICOBILIARY DUCTAL UNION IN CHOLANGIOCARCINOMA

Entry points of the pancreatic and bile ducts into the duodenum were a dequately visualized on endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in 23 confirmed patients with cholangiocarcinoma. The group comprised 19 men and four women, and age ranged from 25 to 70 years. In 21 pati ents (91.3%) a common channel was present, whereas in 2 patients the p ancreatic and bile ducts opened separately into the duodenum. The mean length +/- SD of the common channel in patients of cholangiocarcinoma was 6.43 +/- 5.23 mm, which was comparable to the length of the commo n channel in 25 normal subjects (mean +/- SD, 5.30 +/- 3.81 mm). The c ommon channel was less than 8 mm long in 19 patients. An anomalous pan creato-biliary duct was present in two patients, and in one of these p atients cholangiocarcinoma developed in an already existing choledocha l cyst. A long common channel is an infrequent finding in cholangiocar cinoma, and pancreato-biliary reflux appears to be an insignificant fa ctor in the cause of this disease.