[Obstructive jaundice in Yaounde. Value of echography and transhepatic cholangiography in determining the cause].

The purpose of the study was to assess the clinical value of ultrasonography (US) and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (PTC) in the workup of obstructive jaundice in Yaoundé. From 3,000 ultrasonographic studies done between September 1987 and February 1990, the authors drew 37 cases of obstructive jaundice. 22 of them were explored with both US and PTC. The cause of obstruction was tumor for 14, inflammation or malformation for 4 and biliary stone for 4. US could predict the cause in 55 p. cent of cases and PTC in 77 p. cent of cases. PTC was particularly helpful in case of non tumoral causes. The authors conclude that, in their setting where computed tomography is scarce and expensive, the combination of both US and PTC is rewarding, when the problem is the determination of the nature of obstruction.