Peritoneoscopy in Hodgkin disease. Confirmation of results by laparotomy.

Peritoneoscopy was used to evaluate the liver in 35 previously untreated patients with Hodgkin disease. Four were found to have hepatic involvement. Of the 31 patients with normal peritoneoscopies, only one had liver disease demonstrated subsequently at confirmatory exploratory laparotomy. The diagnostic accuracy of peritoneoscopy was 93% for patients at high risk for hepatic disease and 97% for all patients studied. Morbidity from the procedure was minimal. There was no mortality. Peritoneoscopy is a highly accurate staging procedure that should be considered as an antecedent or as an alternative to laparotomy in patients with Hodgkin disease. Its accuracy and minimal morbidity should be considered in the critical selection process of determining which individuals should undergo laparotomy.