Peroral direct cholangioscopic-guided biopsy and photodynamic therapy using an ultraslim upper endoscope for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma with intraductal tiny nodular tumor growth

Bile-duct invasion is rare in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We report a case that received peroral direct cholangioscopy (PDCS)-guided endoscopic biopsy and photodynamic treatment (PDT) for recurrent HCC with intraductal tiny nodular tumor growth. A 64-year-old woman presented with recurrent right upper-quadrant pain. Six months previously she had been diagnosed with HCC with bile-duct invasion in the right anterior segment and had received right anterior segmentectomy. On pathological examination, the margin of resection was clear, but macroscopic bile-duct invasion was noted. On admission, magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) revealed a 0.5-cm-sized polypoid mass at the hilar portion. ERCP-guided biopsy failed, and an ampullary stricture was noted. PDCS-guided endoscopic biopsy was thus performed, and histopathology of the retrieved specimen revealed HCC. The patient submitted to PDT. There was no procedure-related complication. After 1 month of PDT the polypoid lesion and scar change at the hilar lesion had disappeared.