| [ Summary ] |
The past 30 years of this publication may be considered to have been its maturation period. Over that period, there has been great progress in the diagnosis and treatment of biliary tract diseases. In the field of ultrasonography, tissue harmonic imaging systems have represented epoch making developments through the development of contrast enhanced techniques. In the field of biliary endoscopy, various endoscopic treatments, like endoscopic biliary drainage, and diagnostic techniques, like the Narrow Band Imaging (NBI) system, were developed. In the field of endoscopic ultrasonography, scanning systems had turned into an electronic scanning from a mechanical radial scanning method. EUS guided fine needle aspiration has also been implemented. EUS‒FNA is now applied to various modes of diagnosis and treatment. It is hoped these advances will lead to further improvements in diagnostic accuracy and less invasive treatment modalities. |