Abstract

ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND:
One of the important causes of obstructive jaundice is malignant tumours.
OBJECTIVE:
The current study was undertaken to describe the epidemiology of malignant extra-hepatic biliary tract obstruction in Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
Patients & Methods: The study was undertaken at Kurdistan centre for gastroenterology & hepatology in Sulaimaniyah city. Patients attending the centre during the period from 1st January 2008 to 1st January 2013 and diagnosed as having a malignancy using endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography were included in the study. A total of 259 patients were found to have such a malignancy and therefore included.
RESULTS:
The mean age of patients was 63.5 years, the male to female ratio was 1:3 and the most common cause of malignant extra-hepatic biliary tract obstruction was cholangiocarcinoma 47.5%, followed by ampullary and peiampullary carcinoma 26.6%. In males, 37.7% of cancers were cholangiocarcinoma, 30.8% ampullary and periampullary carcinoma, & 26% pancreatic carcinoma, versus 60.2%, 21.2%, & 15% in females respectively (P= 004). Most cancers occurred between 50-79 years of age.
CONCLUSION:
The causes of malignant extra-hepatic biliary obstruction in order of frequency were cholangiocarcinoma, ampullary and periampullary carcinoma, pancreatic carcinoma & carcinoma of the gallbladder.