Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in an obese patient qualified for laparoscopic bariatric surgery – a case study

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is a rare type of biliary tract malignancy, seldom found resectable at diagnosis, the 5-year survival rate depending on the possibility of complete surgical excision. In most cases it is only accidentally found in the early stage. The report presents a case of a 58-year-old obese male patient qualified for laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. During general inspection of the abdominal cavity, a tumor of 10 mm in diameter was found in the second hepatic segment and resected. Final pathology results showed low-grade intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma without vascular invasion, with positive margins of incision (R1), classified as stage I. The abdominal computed tomography scan showed no evidence of metastatic disease. Two months later the patient underwent a laparoscopic partial hepatectomy. Pathological investigation showed focal bile duct hamartoma with no signs of malignancy. No adjuvant therapy was administered and no recurrence has been found to date.