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Incidental finding of gallbladder carcinoma
Daphna Weinstein1, Mehrdad Herbert, Noa Bendet
1Department of Surgery B, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel.
Background:
Carcinoma of the gallbladder is diagnosed in 0.3-1.5% of all cholecystectomy specimens.
Objectives:
To establish the overall rate of gallbladder carcinoma and unexpected gallbladder carcinoma based on our experience.
Methods:
We retrospectively evaluated all consecutive cholecystectomies performed in our ward during a 6 year period in order to determine the incidence of gallbladder carcinoma and to identify common characteristics of this particular group of patients.
Results:
Of the 1,697 cholecystectomies performed in our ward during the 6 years, gallbladder carcinoma was diagnosed in six patients (0.35%) but was not suspected prior to surgery in any of them. In accordance with the literature, the occurrence in women (5/6) was higher than in men (1/6). The mean age was 70 years (range 55-90). The most common symptom was abdominal pain; the majority (5/6) had cholelithiasis, and the pathologic report confirmed the diagnosis of adenocarcinoma in all six patients.
Conclusions:
The overall incidence of unsuspected gallbladder carcinoma in our series was 0.35%. We could not find any common characteristics for this particular group of patients when compared to patients with non-malignant pathology.