[Laparoscopy in patients with Hodgkin's disease (author's disease)]

Laparoscopy with spleen and multiple liver biopsies was performed in 94 patients with Hodgkin's disease in stages III B and IV B. In four of them involvement of the liver was demonstrated in this way. Exploratory laparotomy was subsequently performed in 35 patients, liver involvement being revealed in only one patient in whom it had not been previously demonstrated by laparoscopy and (or) biopsy. While laparoscopy proved to be of similar value to exploratory laparotomy in assessing liver involvement, it was no substitute for operation. It was valuable in determining the stage of the disease and following its course.