[US and CT findings of mucinous carcinomas of the gallbladder]

Mucinous carcinomas of the gallbladder are relatively uncommon. Their radiological findings have not been described previously. We describe the CT and US findings of mucinous carcinoma of the gallbladder in 3 cases. Tumors (thickened wall and/or intraluminal polypoid mass) showed hyperechogeneity or isoechogeneity on US and water density on CT. US clearly detected large polypoid lesions, but CT was unable to detect these lesions in 2 cases. Therefore, we stressed the discrepancy between the findings of US and CT. These features can be explained by the fact that a tumor containing a large amount of mucin produces a mass of near-water density in the gallbladder on CT. It is of value to know the radiological findings of these tumors because the diagnosis is easily missed by CT study alone.