Sclerosing cholangitis after surgical treatment of hepatic echinococcal cysts. Report of three cases.

Three patients with sclerosing cholangitis after surgical treatment of echinococcosis of the liver are described. Before surgery, they had clinical symptoms that suggested a communication between the cyst and the biliary tract and, in two of them, the communication was later demonstrated by cholangiography. In each case, the cyst was injected with formalin solution. Soon after operation chronic cholestasis developed, with operative, cholangiographic, and histologic data suggesting sclerosing cholangitis. The role of formalin in the pathogenesis of this condition is discussed herein.