Gallbladder

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The gallbladder, in pathology (and general surgery), is a growth industry... due to the worsening obesity epidemic.

Normal histology

  • No muscularis mucosae.
  • Small amount of lymphocytes in the lamina propria.

Image:

Note:

  • As there is no muscularis mucosae, the cancer staging is different; pT1a is lamina propria invasion. pT1b is muscle layer invasion.

Overview

Most common:

  • Cholelithiasis with cholecystitis.

Common:

  • Antral-type metaplasia.

Uncommon:

  • Intestinal metaplasia.
  • Gallbladder dysplasia.
  • Gallbladder carcinoma.

Common

Cholecystitis

General

Epidemiology

  • Female, fat, fertile, family history, forty (though now getting younger... as people get fatter).

Etiology

  • Cholelithiasis.
  • Thick bile (acalculous cholecystitis).

Clinical (classic)

  • Constant right upper quadrant pain after a fatty meal.
  • Positive Murphy's sign (physical exam, with ultrasound).

Gross

  • Strawberry-like appearance - common (due to cholesterolosis -- see below)
    • Small ridges (microvillus architecture).
      • Normal gallbladder mucosa = smooth.
  • Congestion/erythema.

Microscopic

Chronic cholecystitis

Features:

  • Rokitansky-Aschoff sinuses.[1]
    • Entrapped epithelial crypts -- pockets of epithelium in the wall of the gallbladder.
  • +/-Foamy macrophages in the lamina propria (cholesterolosis of the gallbladder).
  • Chronic inflammatory cells (lymphocytes - most common).
  • Fibrotic thickening of the gallbladder wall.

Acute cholecystitis

  • Neutrophils - usually secondary to necrosis/ulceration or infection.[2]
    • Not essential for the Dx of cholecystitis.

Gangrenous cholecystitis

Gallbladder cholesterolosis

  • AKA cholesterolosis.
  • Informally known as strawberry gallbladder.

General

  • Common in cholecystitis.
  • Associated with yellow gallstones (cholesterol type gallstones).

Gross

Features:

  • Mucosa has strawberry-like appearance.

Microscopic

Features:

  • Foamy macrophages in the lamina propria.

Image:

Cholelithiasis

General

  • Often accompanies cholecystitis/contributes and/or causes cholecystitis

The two types of gallstones:

  • Cholesterol stones.
  • Pigment stones.

Note:

  • Most stones technically speaking are a mix, i.e. cholesterol and pigment. Many call yellow stones that are a mix "cholesterol stones".

Cholesterol stones

  • More common than pigment stone.

Appearance:

  • Clear or yellow.
  • Opaque or translucent.
  • Sometimes shinny.

Pigment stones

Appearance:

  • Black - key feature.
  • Dull.

Less common pathologic diagnoses

Adenomyoma of the gallbladder

  • AKA gallbladder adenomyosis.
  • AKA adenomyomatosis of the gallbladder.

General

  • Glands in muscle.
  • Analogous to what happens in the uterus.
  • Significance - may mimic malignant tumours of the gallbladder.[5][6]
  • Uncommon.

Gross

  • Cystic spaces (Rokitansky-Aschoff sinuses) - may be seen on imaging.[7][8]
  • Gallbladder wall thickening.

Microscopic

Features:

  • Glands in muscularis propria of the gallbladder wall.
  • No nuclear atypia.

DDx:

Image:

Gallbladder polyps

General

  • Polyps are significant as they may be adenomatous, i.e. pre-cancerous.
  • These are similar to polyps found elsewhere GI tract.

Microscopic

See intestinal polyps.

Flat dysplasia:[9]

  • Nuclear changes.
    • Increased NC ratio.
    • Hyperchromasia (essential).
    • +/-Intestinal metaplasia --> goblet cells.

Premalignant lesions

General

  • Metaplasia associated with carcinoma.[10]

Hypothesis:[11]

  • Antral type metaplasia --> intestinal metaplasia --> dysplasia --> carcinoma.

Intestinal metaplasia

General

Significance:

  • Increased risk of carcinoma.[10]

Microscopic

Features:

Antral type metaplasia

General

  • AKA pyloric metaplasia, pseudopyloric metaplasia, mucous gland metaplasia.[12]

Microscopic

Features:[12]

  • Columnar cells with:
    • Abundant, pale, apical mucin.
    • Small basal nucleus.
  • Cells often in nests -- below luminal surface.
  • Cells vaguely resemble foveollar epithelium of the stomach.

Notes:

  • May look similar to cells of the gallbladder neck[12] and common bile duct.[13]
    • These glandular cells are not as columnar and have less well-defined cell borders.
      • Cells with antral type metaplasia >2:1 (height:width), benign mucosal glands <2:1.

Images:

Gallbladder dysplasia

General

  • Premalignant lesion.

Microscopic

Features:

  • Nuclear crowding.
  • Nuclear hyperchromasia.

Notes:

  • Like in the colon.

Gallbladder carcinoma

General

Epidemiology

  • Associated with gallstones.
  • Sex: female > male.
  • Location: usually fundus, sometimes body.

Notes:

  • Calcification of gallbladder wall, AKA "porcelain gallbladder" is not associated with carcinoma - based on a series of 10,741 cholecystectomies.[14]
  • Cholangiocarcinoma is dealt with in the liver neoplasms article.

Microscopic

Features:

Notes:

  • May be very subtle, i.e. difficult to differentiate from normal glands.

DDx:

See also

References

  1. ↑ URL: http://www.whonamedit.com/synd.cfm/983.html. Accessed on: 29 October 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Tadrous, Paul.J. Diagnostic Criteria Handbook in Histopathology: A Surgical Pathology Vade Mecum (1st ed.). Wiley. pp. 174. ISBN 978-0470519035.
  3. ↑ STC. 25 February 2009.
  4. ↑ URL: http://www.rxmed.com/b.main/b2.pharmaceutical/b2.1.monographs/CPS-%20Monographs/CPS-%20%28General%20Monographs-%20U%29/URSOFALK.html. Accessed on: 29 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Saul, WM.; Herrmann, PK. (1988). "[Adenomyoma of the gallbladder].". Dtsch Z Verdau Stoffwechselkr 48 (2): 112-6. PMID 3168899.
  6. ↑ Sasatomi, E.; Miyazaki, K.; Mori, M.; Satoh, T.; Nakano, S.; Tokunaga, O. (Oct 1997). "Polypoid adenomyoma of the gallbladder.". J Gastroenterol 32 (5): 704-7. PMID 9350002.
  7. ↑ Ching, BH.; Yeh, BM.; Westphalen, AC.; Joe, BN.; Qayyum, A.; Coakley, FV. (Jul 2007). "CT differentiation of adenomyomatosis and gallbladder cancer.". AJR Am J Roentgenol 189 (1): 62-6. doi:10.2214/AJR.06.0866. PMID 17579153.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Boscak, AR.; Al-Hawary, M.; Ramsburgh, SR.. "Best cases from the AFIP: Adenomyomatosis of the gallbladder.". Radiographics 26 (3): 941-6. doi:10.1148/rg.263055180. PMID 16702464.
  9. ↑ Tadrous, Paul.J. Diagnostic Criteria Handbook in Histopathology: A Surgical Pathology Vade Mecum (1st ed.). Wiley. pp. 172. ISBN 978-0470519035.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Duarte I, Llanos O, Domke H, Harz C, Valdivieso V (September 1993). "Metaplasia and precursor lesions of gallbladder carcinoma. Frequency, distribution, and probability of detection in routine histologic samples". Cancer 72 (6): 1878–84. PMID 8364865.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Mukhopadhyay S, Landas SK (March 2005). "Putative precursors of gallbladder dysplasia: a review of 400 routinely resected specimens". Arch. Pathol. Lab. Med. 129 (3): 386–90. PMID 15737036. http://www.archivesofpathology.org/doi/pdf/10.1043/1543-2165%282005%29129%3C386%3APPOGDA%3E2.0.CO%3B2.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Mills, Stacey E; Carter, Darryl; Greenson, Joel K; Oberman, Harold A; Reuter, Victor E (2004). Sternberg's Diagnostic Surgical Pathology (4th ed.). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 1789. ISBN 978-0781740517.
  13. ↑ EC. 3 March 2011.
  14. ↑ Towfigh S, McFadden DW, Cortina GR, et al (January 2001). "Porcelain gallbladder is not associated with gallbladder carcinoma". Am Surg 67 (1): 7?0. PMID 11206901.
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