[Percutaneous transhepatic bilioplasty: long-term results]

We report the results of a long-term follow-up of 40/101 patients with benign biliary strictures treated with percutaneous balloon dilatation (PBD) at the Radiology Department of the University of Turin, from March 1983 to March 1990. We excluded all the patients who were not followed or treated after June 1988, being their follow-up shorter than 18 months. All patients underwent accurate clinical, biological (AST, ALT, gammaGT, alcaline phosphatase) and US controls. Mean follow-up was 33.5 months. Mean success rate was 75% in strictures of bilioenteric anastomosis, 86% in iatrogenic strictures of the common bile duct, 65% in sclerosing cholangitis, 80% in papillary strictures in which endoscopic treatment had not been possible for anatomical reasons. Our results, compared to the most important radiological and surgical series, show PBD to have lower morbidity than surgery and no mortality during the so-called peroperative period (30 days). Moreover, in case of recurrences, PBD can be repeated without further complications and does not affect eventual surgery.