The value of percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography in the diagnosis of obstructive jaundice

Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (PTC) using Chiba needle was employed to diagnose obstructive jaundice in 31 subjects. It was successful in all 27 (87%) subjects who had dilatation of the biliary tree. Out of them, 15 had features suggestive of carcinoma, 9 had features of stone and 3 had features of stricture of the common bile duct (CBD). Surgery was done in 11 cases and PTC diagnosis of carcinoma of CBD in 4 and stricture of the same in one subject were confirmed. While in the remaining 6 subjects with a PTC diagnosis of CBD stone, 4 were found to be so and 2 had stricture of the duct. Three subjects had complications such as bile peritonitis, cholangitis and shock. In majority of the cases, the biochemical parameters were inconclusive. These results suggest that PTC may be useful in the diagnosis of obstructive jaundice and this procedure should be employed more widely.