Angiographic diagnosis and treatment of hemobilia.

Hemobilia (bleeding from the biliary tract) may be secondary to trauma, inflammatory disorders, gallstones, or tumor. Although it used to be rare, it is becoming more frequent due to trauma, including iatrogenic causes. The etiology is established by selective angiography, which also facilitates embolic occlusion of the arterial branches supplying the lesion. Nonsurgical control is preferable to surgical management. Two cases are reported, emphasizing the etiologic and therapeutic aspects of interventional studies of the liver.