Bile duct varices or "pseudo-cholangiocarcinoma sign" in portal hypertension due to cavernous transformation of the portal vein.

A total of 832 patients with portal hypertension resulting from different etiology was studied by ultrasonograph as a screening test. In 17 of the 832 patients, cavernous transformation of the portal vein was detected by means of ultrasonography. We have prospectively studied these 17 patients, and the diagnosis of cavernous transformation was confirmed by portography in all patients. To evaluate how much biliary tract has been affected from cavernous transformation of the portal vein, and to explain the cause of mildly increased alkaline phosphatase and serum bilirubin levels, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) was performed in 16 of the 17 patients. There were narrowing, irregularity, undulation and nodular extrinsic defects resulting from compression of thrombosis of the portal vein and the collateral vessels, mimicking cholangiocarcinoma spreading along the common bile duct on the extrahepatic biliary tract in all 16 patients who underwent ERCP. Similar ERCP findings were not found in six patients with portal hypertension due to liver cirrhosis. The ultrasonographic, portographic, and ERCP findings corresponded to surgical findings in six patients who had undergone splenectomy for either hypersplenism or bleeding from esophageal varices. The results indicate that cavernous transformation of the portal vein cause the above-mentioned radiographic findings that we propose to call "pseudo-cholangiocarcinoma sign."