doctors found suspicious cells in my dad's bile duct, did another

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doctors found suspicious cells in my dad's bile duct, did another ercp, came back negative and then a third ercp and it came back suspicious again. His initial symptoms happened after hip surgery, while in rehab, he turned jaundice and was filled with bile. They did the first ercp at that time suspicious cells came back and cleaned out the bileand put a stent in his bile duct.
A second ercp was done two weeks later and it came back negative. A week before that he had an eus which showed no masses or tumors. They said the first suspicious cells may have been from inflamation. The last ercp which again showed suspicious cells was done four days after my dad was rushed to the hospital with infection because the stent moved. That is when they took more samples and it came back suspicious.

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Female , Age: 43

Customer (name blocked for privacy)

Status: Closed Value: $9

There wasn't really a question in your question! did you just want possible explanations for the variation in test results?

I hope my answer is helpful. If you have more questions, just ask! I am happy to help. If not, please click "accept" so I may receive credit for my work.
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Reply to Christy Hammond's Post: yes, how can it be suspicious, negative and then suspicious again after three brushings. Also does this mean he has cancer for sure. They want him to see a surgeon...do you have any alternative for checking to see if this would be beyond suspicious rather than cutting him open? He also used the word displasia with the last findings of suspicious cells.

Edited by Customer (name blocked for privacy) on June 7 2006 at 4:46 PM

Hi,

Christy is off line, so I'll step in.

Dysplasic cells are abnormal cells but not definitely cancerous.

Unfortunately, there can be a range of abnormalities in cells that go bad. Some are so obviously abnormal that even you could see that under a microscope they don't look like the pictures of normal cells in the textbook.

Then, there are the cells that look so much like normal cells, that under the conventional microscope the best one can say is that they are suspiscious. I can't say yes, and I can't say no.

Of course, there would be a difference seen with an electronmicroscope, but clinical laboratories don't have them.

So, the docs put their heads together, consider everything about the patient, and decide what to do that is the best for the patient in the long run.

I am not a pathologist; however, I do know that there are situations in which the cells are treated with special stains to see if they are malignant. I do not know if this is applicable to the ones they are looking for, whether the blocks they have can be used, or another ECRP would be necessary.

This is speculation on my part, but it is woth discussing with your physicians.

What I tell you is what I teach. I'm here to help improve your quality of life, and I'll work with you as long as necessary to help you.

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