Risk Management Of Incidental Gallbladder Cancer In Cholecystectomy Materials

Aim: Gallbladder cancer is an uncommon, but aggressive tumor. Its prognosis is poor and the most cases are incidentally detected in histopathological examinations of cholecystectomies due to benign diseases. With the era of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, the number of cases detected in early stage is increasing. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the rate of cancer encountered and the distribution of non-cancer diagnoses in cholecystectomy materials sent to our department, together with the literature findings.

Materials and Methods: The results of the cholecystectomy materials sent to the pathology laboratory and examined routinely in 2016-2017 were retrospectively evaluated by forming diagnostic groups. Clinical preliminary diagnoses, demographic informations (age, sex), and pathology reports of the patients were reviewed.

Results: We included a total of 1000 cholecystectomy materials into the study. Two of the 7 patients who presented with malignancy were incidentally diagnosed and underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy with the preliminary diagnosis of cholelithiasis, with the primary focus was gallbladder in one patient, and the other was compatible with colonic adenocarcinoma infiltration. Preoperative and / or perioperative malignancy was detected in the remaining 5 patients. A large proportion (> 90%) of the other cases had chronic or chronic active cholecystitis and low rate of acute cholecystitis included gastric heterotopia found in 2 (0.2%), tubular adenoma in 1 (0.1%), tubulovillous adenoma in 1 (0.1%), adenomyoma / adenomyomatosis in 4 (0.4%), polyp in 6 (0,6%) and dysplasia (Biliary intraepithelial neoplasia, BilIN) in 5 (0.5%) patients.