title: Diagnosis of biliary tract and ampullary carcinomas.
abstract: Diagnostic methods for biliary tract carcinoma and the efficacy of these methods are discussed. Neither definite methods for early diagnosis nor specific markers are available in this disease. When this disease is suspected on the basis of clinical symptoms and risk factors, hemato-biochemical examination and abdominal ultrasonography are performed and, where appropriate, enhanced computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) is carried out. Diagnoses of extrahepatic bile duct cancer and ampullary carcinoma are often made based on the presence of obstructive jaundice. Although rare, abdominal pain and pyrexia, as well as abnormal findings of the hepatobiliary system detected by hemato-biochemical examination, serve as a clue to making a diagnosis of these diseases. On the other hand, the early diagnosis of gallbladder cancer is scarcely possible on the basis of clinical symptoms, so when this cancer is found with the onset of abdominal pain and jaundice, it is already advanced at the time of detection, thus making a cure difficult. When gallbladder cancer is suspected, enhanced CT is carried out. Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT), in particular--one of the methods of enhanced CT--is useful for decision of surgical criteria, because MDCT shows findings such as localization and extension of the tumor, and the presence or absence of remote metastasis. Procedures such as magnetic resonance imaging, endoscopic ultrasonography, bile duct biopsy, and cholangioscopy should be carried out taking into account indications for these procedures in individual patients. However, direct biliary tract imaging is necessary for making a precise diagnosis of the horizontal extension of bile duct cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Science for Research, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsukada
authors.forename: Tadahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takada
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.forename: Shuichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyakawa
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagino
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Junji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Furuse
authors.forename: Hiroya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsuyuguchi
authors.forename: Fumio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshitomi
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nozawa
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Keita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: Hodaka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Amano
authors.forename: Fumihiko
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Miura
mesh_terms: D014670:Ampulla of Vater; D001661:Biliary Tract Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D016145:Endoscopy, Digestive System; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods