Original CommunicationsCarcinoma in the porcelain gallbladder: A relationship revisited*,**
Section snippets
Methods
The charts and pathology reports from Massachusetts General Hospital from 1962 to 1999 were reviewed and selected for patients who had the diagnosis of either gallbladder cancer or a calcified gallbladder wall. Included in the study were patients who underwent a complete cholecystectomy with pathologic examination of the specimen. Patients with a diagnosis of gallbladder cancer determined solely on radiographic studies or surgical exploration and biopsy specimen examination were excluded from
Results
From 1962 to 1999, there were approximately 25,900 gallbladder specimens analyzed in the pathology department at Massachusetts General Hospital. There were 150 patients with gallbladder cancer who underwent cholecystectomy as part of their treatment. There were an additional 26 patients with gallbladder cancer diagnosed by evaluation of a biopsy specimen from a gallbladder mass noted at surgical exploration. These latter patients were excluded from the final analysis because the entire
Discussion
Gallbladder cancer is a notoriously aggressive disease that is diagnosed late and carries a poor prognosis from the time of diagnosis. The average incidence of gallbladder cancer is estimated to be between 0.55% and 1.91%.4 Several potential risk factors have been identified and evaluated (Table II).Gallstones Large gallstones > 3.0 cm Cholecystoenteric fistula Anomalous pancreaticobiliary junction Gallbladder adenoma or polyps Calcified or porcelain
Acknowledgements
We thank Dr Mary Jane O'Neill for providing ultrasound photographs and for assistance in interpretation of the radiologic studies, Dr David Schoenfeld for his help with the statistical analysis, Dr David macLaughlin for critically reviewing the manuscript, and Barrett Goodspeed for providing the pathology reports.
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Diseases of the Gallbladder
2023, MacSween's Pathology of the Liver, Eighth EditionCholecystopathia chronica calcarea (Porcelain gall bladder): A case report from Nepal
2022, Annals of Medicine and SurgeryCitation Excerpt :A porcelain gallbladder is an unusual cholecystopathological condition in which the gallbladder wall gets calcified either completely or partially. During this process, it can become brittle and bluish, resulting in a “porcelain” like appearance [1,2,7,8,10]. The incidence of porcelain gallbladders (in routine cholecystectomy specimens) is less than 1%, and risk factors include female gender, old age, and gallstones.
Incidental Findings of Gallbladder and Bile Ducts—Management Strategies: General Aspects, Gallbladder Polyps and Gallbladder Wall Thickening—A World Federation of Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (WFUMB) Position Paper
2022, Ultrasound in Medicine and BiologyCitation Excerpt :This very high risk of malignancy is contradicted by recent studies, some of which reported no cases of GBC even in large surgical and non-surgical PGB cohorts (Towfigh et al. 2001; Kim et al. 2009; Khan et al. 2011; Chen et al. 2015). In their analysis of 25,900 cholecystectomy specimens from the years 1962 to 1999, Stephen and Berger (2001) found a prevalence of GBC among 44 cases with GB wall calcifications of 2 cases (5%). A review of seven published series that included 60,665 cholecystectomies revealed an overall prevalence of PGB of 0.2%, and GBC occurred in 15% of PGB cases (Khan et al. 2011).
Pathology of the Gallbladder and Extrahepatic Bile Ducts
2022, Gastrointestinal and Liver Pathology, Third EditionClinical Outcomes of Patients with Porcelain Gallbladder Diagnosed on CT
2021, Academic RadiologyCitation Excerpt :Porcelain gallbladder on CT was diagnosed based on the following criteria: (1) calcification within gallbladder wall, i.e., no gallbladder wall is visible external to calcifications (Fig 2) and/or (2) continuous extension of mural calcifications into the gallbladder neck (Fig 3). Extent of the calcifications was graded (≤25%, 26%–50%, 51%–75%, >75% of the wall involved) and the involved parts of the gallbladder (fundus, body, neck) were noted, as well as whether the calcifications were focal or diffuse (4), continuous or discontinuous, regular or irregular, and visible or not on the scout images of the CT. Calcifications that were circumferentially distributed over the whole gallbladder wall were defined as diffuse.
Gallbladder Disorders: A Comprehensive Review
2021, Disease-a-Month
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Reprint requests: David L. Berger, MD, Department of Surgery, ACC 465, Massachusetts General Hospital, 15 Parkman St, Boston, MA 02114.
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Surgery 2001;129:699-703