Metastatic seeding of bile duct carcinoma in the transhepatic catheter tract: report of a case.

We describe herein the case of a 51-year-old woman in whom metastatic tumor seeding of the percutanenous transhepatic biliary drainage tract occurred following a pancreatoduodenectomy for carcinoma of the distal common bile duct. An abdominal computed tomography scan done 6 months after the initial operation detected a hepatic lesion located at the site of the previous percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage tract. Implantation of bile duct carcinoma in the drainage tract was diagnosed, and the recurrent tumor was successfully resected by performing a subsegmentectomy of segment 3 and removal of the adjacent abdominal wall. At present, 5 years and 4 months after the second resection, the patient is in good health without any signs of recurrence. This case report demonstrates that an aggressive surgical approach should be performed for tumor seeding of a transhepatic biliary catheter tract.