Extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma with prolonged survival: a case report

Abstract

BackgroundCholangiocarcinoma has poor prognosis and short term-survival. Here, we report the case of a patient with unusually prolonged survival.Case presentationOur patient was a 56-year-old Arab man with a 6-month history of obstructive jaundice. A computed tomography scan of his abdomen revealed a mass at the confluence of the hepatic ducts with suspected malignant strictures on endoscopy. A positive tissue diagnosis was achieved more than 18 months after commencement of his symptoms. He remained functional throughout this period despite recurrent episodes of cholangitis.ConclusionsCholangiocarcinoma is a presumably fatal disease, especially because patients tend to present late with unresectable disease. Many patient-related and disease-related factors may alter survival.

Inpatient Palliative Care Is Less Utilized in Rare, Fatal Extrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma: A Ten-Year National Perspective

“…The NIS also provides de-identified data on each admission, so readmitted cases are considered as new admissions, and hospital charges and LOS are calculated for each admission not for each patient. ECC may not be fatal in rare cases [ 35 ]. Therefore, another limitation of our study is that we did not exclude possible rare curable ECC cases who might not have been eligible for palliative care.…”