[Value of preoperative diagnosis in assessing tumor extension of ductal pancreatic carcinoma].

The value of preoperative diagnostics in evaluating the extension of pancreatic carcinoma can be important in some cases for planning its therapy. In ca. 90% of our own patient material only the combination of angiography and computed tomography allowed a correct decision regarding tumor invasion of the vessels. Retrospectively metastases of the liver were seen in 80% and prospectively in 66.7% (sonography), respectively 58.3% (computed tomography) with a specificity of 86.9% respectively 91.3%. These results support our procedure of performing preoperative diagnostics in order to evaluate local operability and resectability only in patients with bad physical condition.