[Polyps of the biliary tract: is their preoperative diagnosis possible?]

Bile duct polyps are a very uncommon cause of obstructive jaundice. We present our experience of three patients diagnosed in the last 10 years. Initial presentation usually takes the form of obstructive jaundice associated with abdominal pain, which simulates biliary lithiasis. The diagnosis is usually surgical. Although in some cases radiological studies and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) may sometimes detect bile duct polyps, exact diagnosis before surgery is very unusual. The radiological signs that suggest the existence of a bile duct polyp in the ERCP seem to be the presence of repletion defects, fixed unilaterally to the biliary conduit, without meniscus and without circumferential stenosis of the affected conduit. The most frequently found polyps are fibroinflammatory, and less frequently adenomatous.