[The clinical picture and diagnosis of mechanical jaundice during tumor growth].

Studies on the clinical course of the lesion in 525 patients with malignant tumors of the bilio-pancreato-duodenal system organs have evidenced that jaundice is not an early sign of the affection. In developed jaundice it is rational to differentiate two main diagnostic stages: presurgical which main task is differentiation between mechanic jaundice and hepatocellular jaundice, the greatest importance being attached to clinical investigation of serum enzymes and clinical data. The second main diagnostic stage is an operation during which all feasible methods of ultimate diagnosis should be employed, including direct cholangiography and urgent microscopy of a tumor.