[Percutaneous transhepatic cholangioscopy (PTCS)--evaluating the clinical status].

In 44 patients with biliary obstructions, percutaneous transhepatic cholangioscopy (PTCS) was performed during percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage procedures (PTCD). In all patients the obstruction could be decompressed via the PTCD sufficiently. 30 of these cases who had PTCS showed suspect hepatic and pancreatic malignancies. In contrast to the brush cytology (14% false negative) the biopsies revealed insufficient histology in 33%. However, in 3 cases a more extended tumor site was seen that at the initial exploration, shown by ERCP.