A 58-year-old woman with an incidental 'porcelain gallbladder' on plain radiograph undergoes cholecystectomy. Histology shows extensive transmural calcification of the gallbladder wall. This finding is clinically significant chiefly because it is associated with an increased risk of:
- A Xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis
- B Gallbladder adenocarcinoma ✓
- C Gallstone ileus
- D Adenomyomatosis with mural diverticula
Correct answer: B. Gallbladder adenocarcinoma
Explanation
Porcelain gallbladder, defined as diffuse calcification of the gallbladder wall after long-standing cholelithiasis and chronic cholecystitis, has traditionally been linked to gallbladder carcinoma, though modern series place the risk lower than older estimates of 10 to 25 percent. Cholecystectomy is advised. Xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis mimics carcinoma grossly but is an inflammatory process, adenomyomatosis is a benign hyperplastic change, and gallstone ileus results from a fistulized stone eroding into bowel.
Reference: Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, 10th ed.
High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP
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