Cholangiocellular carcinoma in the caudate lobe with intraluminal growth in the extrahepatic bile duct.

A case of cholangiocellular carcinoma in the caudate lobe with intraluminal growth in the extrahepatic bile duct is reported. The main tumor in the caudate lobe was detected by computed tomography and angiography, and two intraluminal tumors at the hepatic hilus and at the root of the right posterior segmental duct were well demonstrated by cholangiography and percutaneous transhepatic cholangioscopy. Independent total caudate lobectomy with bile duct resection was performed. Cholangiocellular carcinoma of the liver with intraluminal growth in the extrahepatic bile duct is very rare and has not been reported in the literature. Independent caudate lobe resection requires a rather complicated technique. However, this method has the advantage of reducing to a minimum the hepatic volume to be resected, and is useful for poor-risk patients or for cases with localized carcinoma at the hepatic hilus.