Cholangiocarcinoma is a highly fatal primary cancer of the bile ducts which arises from malignant transformation of bile duct epithelium. While being an uncommon malignancy with an annual incidence in the United States of 5000 new cases, the incidence has been increasing over the past 30 years and comprises 3% of all gastrointestinal cancers. Cholangiocarcinoma can be classified into intrahepat...

Hilar cholangiocarcinomas involving the bifurcation of the hepatic duct are called Klatskin tumors. A resected specimen of the hilar hepatic region with Klatskin tumor was analyzed. The lining epithelium of major biliary ducts was regular, while the majority of epithelial cells lining the excretory ducts of peribiliary glands (PBGs) exhibited malignant features. The connective tissue surroundin...

Hilar cholangiocarcinoma, also known as Klatskin tumour, is the commonest type of cholangiocarcinoma. It poses unique problems in the diagnosis and management because of its anatomical location. Curative surgery in the form of major hepatic resection entails significant morbidity. About 5-15% of specimens resected for presumed Klatskin tumour prove not to be cholangiocarcinomas. There are a num...

We describe the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges of a type Va extrahepatic bile duct duplication coexistent with distally located hilar cholangiocarcinoma (Klatskin tumor). We present 2 cases that were diagnosed preoperatively and treated with a modified surgical technique of a combined pylorus-preserving Whipple procedure and hepaticojejunostomy.

Endoscopic biliary stenting is a well-established palliative procedure for treating obstructive jaundice in patients with unresectable hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Plastic tube stents (PS) have been widely used for the procedure, but self-expandable metallic stents (SEMSs) are becoming increasingly popular because of the associated longer patency. However, there are several unanswered questions re...

BACKGROUND Surgery is the only curative therapy for patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HCCA). Combined portal vein resection (PVR) could achieve negative resection margins in HCCA patients with portal vein invasion. This systematic review aimed to analysis the efficiency of combined PVR for HCCA. METHODS MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure...

BACKGROUND A variety of benign etiologies of biliary stricture may initially be mistaken for hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Consequently, many patients undergo surgery for a benign disease that could have been treated medically. Eosinophilic cholangitis (EC) is an uncommon, benign, self-limiting disease that should be considered when approaching a case of obstructive jaundice since it causes biliary...