Transduodenal excision of giant tumour of the ampulla of Vater: a case report

Carcinoma of the papilla is a rare cancer of the digestive tract; 5% of all gastrointestinal tract malignant neoplasms are periampullary. The authors report and discuss the case of one of their patients aged 79 years suffering from a tumour of the papilla. The case was characterized by the large size of the neoplasm (5.5 cm in diameter) and by the poor clinical conditions of the patient, who was suffering from Parkinson's disease and was at high operative risk. The surgical strategy chosen involved transduodenal excision of the tumour with duodenum-bile duct anastomosis and internal duodenum-Wirsung duct anastomosis. The authors first examine the hypothesis that carcinoma of the papilla may represent the evolution of an adenomatous lesion and then go on to assess the therapeutic strategy adopted in the treatment of these neoplasms: in patients at high operative risk a transduodenal excision of the tumour with duodenum-bile duct anastomosis and internal duodenum-Wirsung duct anastomosis may be a valid alternative to the conventional Whipple procedure.