Extrahepatic biliary obstruction by a common bile duct inflammatory polyp in association with a gallstone, and treatment by endoscopic sphincterotomy.

After a two-year history of recurrent abdominal pain, an 84-year-old man presented with acute pancreatitis and obstructive jaundice. An endoscopic retrograde cholangiogram demonstrated two filling defects approximately 1.0 cm in diameter, in a dilated common bile duct. Endoscopic papillotomy was performed which resulted in a polypoid tumour delivering itself into the wound followed by a free flow of bile. In addition, a single 1.0 cm gallstone was removed from the common bile duct, above the tumour, using a Dormia basket. The patient recovered completely. Histological examination of biopsies of the tumour taken on three subsequent occasions showed it to consist only of inflammatory tissue (an inflammatory polyp) and later, regenerating bile duct mucosa. After six months this tumour had completely regressed.