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Endoscopy 1988; 20(6): 292-293
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-1018199
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

The Significance of Unexplained Dilated Common Bile Duct at Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography

Y. Avni, J. Rattan, S. Bar-Meir
  • Departments of Gastroenterology, Wolfson and lchilov Hospitals and Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel
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Publication History

Publication Date:
17 March 2008 (online)

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See also:

Common Bile Duct Dilation in Patients with Lung Neoplasms: Can It Really be Considered a Paraneoplastic Phenomenon?Endoscopy 1994; 26(07): 632-632
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-1009057

Summary

The clinical significance of unexplained dilation of the common bile duct (CBD) seen at endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in non-jaundiced patients with abdominal pain, was studied in a group of 14 patients. A CBD diameter of more than 15 mm was associated with choledocholithiasis (29 %), periampullary carcinoma (14 %), papillary stenosis (14 %), or no definite pathology (43 %) during a follow-up of 20 months. Dilation of the CBD exceeding 20 mm, was associated with periampullary carcinoma or papillary stenosis in 80 % of the patients. It is recommended that such a group of patients be followed very closely, and the ERCP examination repeated within a few months.

Key words:

Common bile duct - Dilation - Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography