Pseudocalculus of the common bile duct

Common-bile-duct growths are rarely identified unless they cause chronic biliary obstruction. This case report describes a 71-year-old woman who had jaundice and epigastric pain. A cholecysto-colonic fistula was demonstrated by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. The patient also had multiple filling defects in the common bile duct. The fistula was closed and stones were removed. A postoperative cholangiogram showed two calculi. One was removed with a basket through the T-tube tract, but the second, which did not appear completely free of the common-duct wall, could not be removed by the basket method. Subsequently at laparotomy this was found to be a benign pedunculated polyp, composed of collagenous and vascular tissue and with no surface epithelium. Surgeons should bear in mind the possibility of a common-bile-duct growth in cases of extrahepatic biliary obstruction.