Selective celiac angiography and surgical exploration for suspected liver cancer: A comparative study of 196 patients

In 196 patients subjected to celiac angiography and exploratory laparotomy for suspected liver tumor, 81 per cent of the tumors were diagnosed by angiography, 26 per cent of patients had false-negative angiograms, and 16 per cent had false-positive angiograms. Diagnosis on laparotomy proved correct except in one patient. Of 22 patients with liver tumors not diagnosed on angiography, 10 could be specifically treated and 3 of them have survived more than one year. This gain is discussed in relation to the rather high number of unnecessary laparotomies.