[Diagnosis and therapy of stenosis or obstruction of the intrahepatic bile ducts].

15 patients are reviewed who had stenosis or obstruction at the hilus of the bile duct. Percutaneous transhepatic or endoscopic transduodenal cholangiography is indispensable for establishing the diagnosis before operation. Primary carcinomas involving the junction of the hepatic ducts may be regarded as resectable if proximal extension of the tumor is limited to below the second bifurcation of the intrahepatic bile ducts in both the right and left lobes and if the proper hepatic artery and portal vein are still free from tumor invasion. Our favourable operation procedures for resection or palliative decompression of the biliary tree are discussed.