title: High CA 19-9 levels in benign biliary tract diseases. Report of four cases and review of the literature.
abstract: For years, CA 19-9 has been proposed as a marker for epithelial-type gastrointestinal cancers, even though it is well known that its diagnostic specificity is low. Here we describe cases of extremely high CA 19-9 levels in benign biliary tract diseases. The first case involved a 77-year-old male patient with choledocholithiasis and jaundice who was found to have CA 19-9 levels of 98,628 UI/ml. The second case was a 63-year-old male patient with autoimmune cholangitis and a CA 19-9 level of 250 IU/ml. The third case was a 74-year-old male patient with cholelithiasis and choledocholithiasis who developed acute cholangitis. CA 19-9 levels were elevated to 14,950 UI/ml during the episode. The fourth case involved a 73-year-old man with biliary colic and jaundice following an acute open cholecystectomy procedure who had a transient 100-fold increase in CA 19-9 (2230 IU/ml).
authors.affiliation: Section on Gastroenterology, Division of Internal Medicine, Medical School, University of Ioannina, 451 10, Ioannina, Greece
authors.forename: Konstantinos H.
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Katsanos
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kitsanou
authors.forename: Dimitrios K.
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Christodoulou
authors.forename: Epameinondas V.
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Tsianos