Hepatolithiasis is rarely associated with cholangiocarcinoma & etiological relationship between them is not proved.
We experienced 5 cases of cholangiocarcinoma among the 128 cases undergoing hepatic resection for hepatolithiasis at the Department of Surgery, Kyung Hee University Hospital between 1979 and 1990. It was nearly impossible to detect the malignant
lesions
preoperatively-in only one patient, the presence of a coexisting malignant tumor was confirmed by frozen biopsy during operation.
We strongly suggest that whenever patients with a long history of recurrent cholangitis due to hepatolithiasis are admitted ta a hospital, precise examinations including abdominal sonography, computerized tomography, cholangiography, aspiration
cytology, choledochoscopy, forzen biopsy pre-and intraoperatively, should be performed in order to rule out a coexisting cholangiocarcinoma especially in the operative findings of suspected malignant lesion.
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