Incidental Carcinoma of the Gallbladder Diagnosed After Cholecystectomy for Acute Cholecystitis: A Case Report
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21276/apalm.3831Keywords:
incidental gallbladder carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, cholecystectomy, histopathology, gallbladder malignancyAbstract
Background Gallbladder carcinoma is an uncommon but highly aggressive malignancy that frequently presents at an advanced stage due to nonspecific clinical manifestations. In a significant number of patients, the diagnosis is made incidentally following histopathological examination of gallbladder specimens removed for benign indications.
Case Report A 62-year-old female presented with clinical features of acute cholecystitis and underwent cholecystectomy. Preoperative imaging did not reveal any evidence of malignancy. Gross examination of the gallbladder specimen showed inflammatory changes without a distinct mass. However, histopathological evaluation revealed a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma infiltrating the gallbladder wall up to the subserosal layer, consistent with pT2 disease.
Conclusion This case emphasizes the indispensable role of routine histopathological examination of all cholecystectomy specimens, as incidental gallbladder carcinoma may remain undetected on clinical and radiological evaluation alone.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Shujaat Khan, Vinod Raghava, Shahnaz Parveen, Dipiya Tikoo, Lalit Gupta, Ankita Saini, Aliya Rahman
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