Primary carcinoid of the common bile duct. Immunohistochemical characterization of a case and review of the literature.

A 39-year-old woman with a primary carcinoid of the common bile duct is presented. The tumor showed argyrophilia; and, by immunohistochemical studies, chromogranin, serotonin, and somatostatin were demonstrated. The patient has no symptoms 42 months after surgical treatment. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of a carcinoid of the common bile duct as studied by immunohistochemistry. When six choledochal carcinoids were reviewed, the following characteristics were observed: in none of the cases were endocrine symptoms present; women were affected more frequently than men; the carcinoids occurred in younger patients than did adenocarcinomas; metastases were present in half of the patients; and, as a group, carcinoids seemed to have a better prognosis than adenocarcinomas in this location.