Comparison of barium swallow and left gastric angiography in the diagnosis of esophageal varices, with special reference to the management of variceal bleeding.

Seventy-five patients with portal hypertension and esophageal varices were studied by means of barium swallow and selective left gastric angiography. The relative merits and limitations of these techniques in demonstrating the presence, extent, and severity of the varices are discussed, with reference to the selection of patients for prophylactic transection of the esophagus to prevent bleeding from the varices.

The diagnosis of the small resectable pancreatic carcinoma.

ERCP and angiography are essential for the accurate diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma. ERCP is of value in detecting a pancreatic tumour and is the only examination which makes it possible to detect a small pancreatic carcinoma. Angiography is indispensable for the evaluation of the extent and size of the carcinoma, for prediction of resectability, and for differentiation between pancreatitis and carcinoma. Thirty-one out of 32 pancreatic carcinomas (96%) were correctly diagnosed pre-operatively by the use of a combination of the two examinations. Ten of them (31%) were resectable, and of these six measured less than 2 cm in diameter.