The role of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in the diagnosis and treatment of adult choledochal cyst.

Five patients with adult choledochal cyst were diagnosed by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Four patients had type I and one patient had type III choledochal cyst with abnormal pancreaticobiliary duct anatomy. One patient had a tubular adenoma of the distal common bile duct. All patients were treated surgically (excision of cyst with biliary and enteric reconstruction in two patients; cystojejunostomy, two, and transduodenal sphincterotomy, one patient). The follow-up period ranged from two to nine years, with a mean of four years. One patient had recurrent cholangitis develop and was treated successfully by nasobiliary tube flushing. ERCP should be used when choledochal cyst is suspected by ultrasonography, aiming at demonstrating both biliary and pancreatic duct anatomy and enabling the planning of the surgical procedure. Nasobiliary tube flushing provides an alternative therapeutic modality in patients in whom surgical treatment is contraindicated.