| Porcelain gallbladder | |
|---|---|
| Classification and external resources | |
Porcelain gallbladder on X-ray |
|
| ICD-9 | 575.8 |
| eMedicine | radio/569 |
Porcelain gallbladder is a calcification of the gallbladder believed to be brought on by excessive gallstones, although the exact cause is not clear. As with gallstone disease in general, this condition occurs predominantly in overweight female patients of middle age. It is a morphological variant of chronic cholecystitis. Inflammatory scarring of the wall, combined with dystrophic calcification within the wall transforms the gallbladder into a porcelain-like vessel.
Contents |
Porcelain gallbladder is associated with gallbladder cancer, but the precise nature of the association is uncertain. Two review articles examined the association between cancer of the gallbladder and calcified gallbladder. One study reported an incidence of gallbladder cancer of about 1% in patients with calcified gallbladder. .Another study found that of 69 calcified gallbladders, 3 of them contained cancer.[1][2]
Symptoms can include abdominal pain (especially after eating), jaundice, and vomiting. First symptom to appear is Jaundice followed by Right upper quadrant pain.
Abdominal radiography (X-ray), abdominal ultrasound or CT scan.
Recommended treatment is surgical removal of the gallbladder, although laparoscopic cholecystectomy is contraindicated in this case because of fear of seeding of cancer cells in the trochar sites.