[Bile duct cysts in adults: surgical procedure].
OBJECTIVE
The reported prevalence rate of bile duct cysts is very low. However, the clinical presentation of bile duct cysts is common to other hepatobiliary diseases. In this article, we report on a series of patients who have been surgically treated over the last 15 years.


METHODS
All the patients who had undergone bile duct cyst-related surgery at this hospital had their clinical history reviewed retrospectively from 1990 to 2002. Data were obtained prospectively from 2002 to 2005. The following variables were taken into account in our analysis: diagnosis data, surgical procedure, morbidity, post-surgery mortality rates, and follow-up.


RESULTS
Over the last 15 years, 18 patients have undergone surgery at our hospital (6 male, 12 female). The most common clinical presentation was that of abdominal pain and the usual symptoms associated with acute cholangitis. As for surgical procedure, a complete cyst resection with biliary derivation was performed in all 15 cases. The histopathological diagnosis was choledochal cyst in 12 cases, Caroli's disease in 5 cases and a malignant choledochal cyst (adenocarcinoma) in 1 case. The most frequent post-surgical complication was bile leak (3 cases, 16.6%). There was no post-surgical mortality (0%). There were no relapses in the subsequent follow-up


CONCLUSIONS
Our preferred surgical procedure is that of complete cyst resection with biliary derivation. Our overall results are similar to those of medical teams who practise a radical resective procedure, and better than those who practise partial resections.
Altet
Joan
J
Servicio de Cirugía General y Digestiva, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, España.
Rafecas
Antonio
A
Fabregat
Joan
J
Ramos
Emilio
E
García-Borobia
Francisco Javier
FJ
Frago
Ricard
R
Figueras
Joan
J
Torras
Jaume
J
Jorba
Rosa
R
Valls
Carlos
C
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015529:Choledochal Cyst / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult