[Atypical anatomical variants and anomalies of the biliary tract in patients with biliary tract and pancreatic diseases. I. The incidence according to ERCP].

Of 570 patients with clinical manifestations of bile duct and pancreas diseases, examined by ERCP, 122 had different atypical anatomical variants (142 in 114 patients) and anomalies of the biliary passages (8 patients). The incidence of the individual atypical anatomical variants of the bile ducts was, as follows: 1. variants in the entry of the common bile duct in the duodenum--3.3 per cent (19 of 570 patients); 2. variants in the entry of ductus cysticus in the common bile duct--11.1 per cent (63 of 570 patients); 3. variants of the ramifications of the hepatic canals--10.5 per cent (60 of 570 patients). Of the bile duct anomalies, choledochocele was the most common--in 5 of the 8 patients in this group. In addition, there was a double gall bladder, gall bladder atresia and cysts of the intrahepatic bile ducts in one case each. High was the incidence of choledocholithiasis (63 per cent) and especially of primarily formed calculi in the common bile duct (20 per cent), as well as bile duct cancer (11 per cent). Cancer of the biliary passages was significantly commoner in atypical anatomical variants of ductus hepaticus (18 per cent) vs. 8 per cent in atypical variants of ductus cysticus and none in the common bile duct variants (chi 2 = 4.06; p less than 0.05). Cancer of the common bile duct was found also in 1 of the eight patients with anomalies of the biliary passages.