[Development of carcinoma of Vater's ampulla in an adenoma. Analysis of a personal case load and review of the literature].

A retrospective analysis was undertaken of our case material of 40 histological preparations of carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater, as well as a survey of the literature of 103 adenomas of the ampulla of Vater. Signs of malignant transformation were detected in 25% of the adenomas, whilst adenomatous residues were identified in 72% of the examined carcinomas of the ampulla of Vater. Thus, an adenoma-carcinoma sequence seems to be as significant in the case of Vater's papilla as in the colo-rectal region. An epidemiological investigation confirms this hypothesis since 1. adenomas of the papilla Vateri develop 4 years prior to a carcinoma and 2. the relative sex distribution of the two diseases is approximately equal.