Does visceral ischemia play a role in the pathogenesis of acute acalculous cholecystitis?

Acute acalculous cholecystitis is a virulent disease of uncertain etiology observed most commonly in critically ill patients. Although the precise mechanism is unknown, the most commonly postulated theories regarding its pathogenesis are bile stasis, sepsis, and ischemia. The role of ischemia in this process, whose etiology is multifactorial, has been difficult to elucidate. Consequently, we report two patients who developed acute acalculous cholecystitis without apparent risk for the disease other than severe visceral atherosclerosis. Both patients had symptomatic mesenteric vascular disease requiring revascularization and developed fulminant acalculous cholecystitis temporally related to exacerbation of their visceral ischemia. These cases suggest that patients with visceral atherosclerosis may be at increased risk for acute acalculous cholecystitis, perhaps due to impaired mucosal resistance when other factors, such as bile statis and sepsis, are also present.