Case Report
Copyright ©2007 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 7, 2007; 13(5): 813-815
Published online Feb 7, 2007. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i5.813
Metastatic melanoma to the common bile duct causing obstructive jaundice: A case report
Radoje B Colovic, Nikica M Grubor, Miodrag D Jovanovic, Marjan T Micev, Natasa R Colovic
Radoje B Colovic, Nikica M Grubor, Miodrag D Jovanovic, Marjan T Micev, Natasa R Colovic, Institute for Digestive Diseases, First Surgical Clinic, Clinical Center of Serbia, Koste Todorovica 6, Belgrade 11000, Serbia
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Radoje B Colovic, Institute for Digestive Diseases, First Surgical Clinic, Clinical Center of Serbia, Koste Todorovica 6, Belgrade 11000, Serbia. marcolov@eunet.yu
Telephone: +381-11-3610715 Fax: +381-11-3615569
Received: October 10, 2006
Revised: November 3, 2006
Accepted: December 29, 2006
Published online: February 7, 2007
Abstract

Metastatic melanoma to the common bile duct is very rare with only 18 cases reported so far. We report a 46 year old women who, 18 mo after excision of a skin melanoma, developped a painless progressive obstructive jaundice. At operation a melanoma within the distal third of the common bile duct was found. There were no other secondaries within the abdomen. The common bile duct, including the tumor, was resected and anastomosed with Roux-en-Y jejunal limb. The patient survived 31 mo without any sign of local recurrence and was submitted to three other operations for axillar and brain secondaries, from which she finally died. Radical resection of metastatic melanoma to the common bile duct may result in lifelong relief of obstructive jaundice. It is safe and relatively easy to perform. In other cases, a less aggressive approach, stenting or bypass procedures, should be adopted.

Keywords: Metastatic melanoma; Common bile duct; Jaundice