Portsmouth, Va. (November 17, 2008) – More than half a million people annually in the U.S. undergo a procedure called an ERCP to diagnose problems in their liver, gallbladder and bile ducts.  A new diagnostic and treatment option, known as SpyGlass®, is now available at Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center, the first local hospital to implement the diagnostic system.  This new technology allows physicians to use a miniature, fiber-optic probe to directly view the biliary system in full-color images, overcoming the visual challenges of the conventional ERCP procedure. 

With a traditional ERCP procedure, a physician inserts an endoscope (a long, flexible, lighted tube) through the patient’s mouth, directs it through the stomach and into the first part of the small intestine –to view the entrance to the biliary system. After injecting x-ray contrast into the common bile duct, X-rays may be taken of the biliary system. However, these X-rays are black and white, two-dimensional images that often do not provide enough information to obtain a complete diagnosis.

During some procedures, physicians may need to pass small catheters to obtain tissue samples.  However, in many cases the conventional ERCP diagnosis is inconclusive, potentially creating the need for additional testing or repeat procedures.

Physicians using SpyGlass® now can directly view the patient’s biliary system using a fiber-optic probe attached to a camera head that can be steered in four directions.  As a result, physicians have the ability to better identify stones and strictures (obstructions) and are able to more accurately obtain tissue samples, achieving an improved diagnosis for patients.