The diagnosis of pancreatic and biliary malignancy by endoscopy and retrograde cholangiopancreatography. An analysis of 52 consecutive cases.

Fifty-two consecutive cases of verified pancreatic and biliary malignancies in patients who had been subjected to endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) have been investigated. Twenty-seven patients were women and 25 men; mean age was 66.3 (+/- 9.4 S.D.) and 62.3 (+/- 9.6 S.D) years, respectively. The commonest indication for ERCP was icterus, 41 of 52 patients having jaundice. Ductal filling was obtained in 75% of the cases, unsuccessful ductal opacification being due mostly to carcinoma of the head of the papy, endoscopic evidence of the tumor was obtained 22 times. Malignancy was suggested in 46 of the 52 patients by ERCP; no false-negative interpretations of pacified duct occurred.