• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.1-11
• /
• 1992

From the one hundred forty eight patients with evidence of biliary tract obstruction, 275 bile samples were obtained from percutaneously placed biliary drainage catheters. Of the 148 patients, ova of Clonorchis sinensis were demonstrated in 17 patients (11.5%), with the epithelial cells. Among them, one case also demonstrated coexisting adenocarcinoma. In 105 patients, the medical records were available for review and the clinical diagnoses were malignancy in 99 patients and benign lesion in 6 patients. Of the 99 patients in which clinico-radiologic diagnosis were malignant, cytologic results were positive in 23.2%. Dividing the patients Into two groups, the ones with tumor of bile duct origin (group I) and the others with tumors producing extrinsic compression of bile duct, such as periampullary carcinoma, pancreas head carcinoma or metastatic carcinoma in lymph nodes from tumors of adjacent organs (group II), the cytologic results were positive in 37% and 11.6%, respectively. In patients with histologic confirmation, the positive correlation was found in 50% and 20% in group I and group II, respectively, with remarkable difference between two groups. There were no false positives in cytologic diangosis. The overall concordance rate of cytologic diagnosis with diagnosis of clinical investigation in both benign and malignant lesions was 27.6% and the diagnostic specificity was 100%.