A Case of Slow Growing Mucus Producing Biliary Carcinama Treated by Laser Therpy

The patient was an 85-year-old man, who had visited our department due to jaundice 5 years previouly and had been diagnosed as having obstructive jaundice resulting from mucus retention in the biliary tract. He was conservatively managed on an outpatient basis. At the present admission, percutaneus transhepatic cholangioscopy revealed tumorous lesions in the intrahepatic biliary tract and he was diagnosed as having a mucus producing biliary carcinoma on biopsy. Because the growth of the mucus producing biliary carcinoma appeared to be slow, the patient received laser treatment and satisfactory results were obtained. He has remained well with no significant problems for these two years five months after treatment. Laser treatmeat is thus considered to be useful for high risk patient with mucus producing biliary carcinama.