Descending sphincterotomy of the papilla of Vater through the T-drain under endoscopic view. Variants of endoscopic papillotomy (EPT).

An indwelling T-drain is a valuable access to the common bile duct if the conventional EPT fails in the case of choledocholithiasis. It is often easier to cannulate the duodenal papilla from the common bile duct than from the duodenum. A papillotome of the Erlangen type introduced through the T-drain into the papilla spontaneously has the correct cutting direction.

The laparoscopic staging of primary biliary cirrhosis.

The laparoscopic photographs of 38 cases of primary biliary cirrhosis with high titres of mitochondrial antibodies were reviewed. The quality of laparoscopic photography is now so high that it proved possible to use these photographs as the basis of a system of laparoscopic staging. By analogy with the system of histological classification, the disease was divided into four stages.

Histopathological features in mixed types of chronic aggressive hepatitis and primary biliary cirrhosis. Correlations of liver histology with mitochondrial antibodies of different specificity.

A histopathological study was carried out on 27 patients with chronic inflammatory liver disease and clinical and/or biochemical evidence of cholestasis who had either mitochondrial antibodies against mitochondrial antigen fractions of 1.19 density ("PBC antigen"; 14 cases) or of 1.13 density ("CAH-PBC mixed-type antigen"; 13 cases).

[Oxyphenisatin-induced liver disease (author's transl)].

Over a period of 18 months the development of hepatitis after intake of oxyphenisatin, a laxative, was established in 14 patients by re-exposure to the drug. The characteristic feature was nonspecific upper abdominal pain up to colic-like pain, lact of appetite, nausea or vomiting, and pruritus. The biochemical changes were those of chronic hepatitis with varying severity of biliary stasis and abnormal immunofluorescence.