[Transvenous cholangiography and percutaneous transhepatic fine needle cholangiography (author's transl)]

The comparison of transvenous cholangiography (TVC) in 82 patients with percutaneous transhepatic fine needle cholangiography (PTFC) in 84 patients showed that TVC must be considered obsolete due to the complicated procedure with low success rate (56.9%). In one case it led to septicaemia followed by death. The total success rate was 84.5% in PTFC performed with an ultrathin needle (0.5 mm diameter); congested biliary ducts were successfully punctured in 87.9% and noncongested ducts in 72.2%. Severe complications consisted of one case of intraabdominal bleeding and one biliary extravasation. As shown in animal experiments, the superficial parenchymal lesion has not always the shape of a point. High accuracy also in noncongested biliary tracts and low mortality make PTFC superior to TVC and conventional percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography.