Porzellangallenblase

Porcelain gallbladder refers to extensive calcium encrustation of the gallbladder wall. The term has been used to emphasize the blue discolouration and brittle consistency of the gallbladder wall at surgery but is often an incidental finding on multiple different imaging modalities.

Clinical presentation

Patients are usually asymptomatic, and porcelain gallbladder is usually found incidentally on plain abdominal radiographs, ultrasound, or CT images.

Radiographic features

Ultrasound

On ultrasound, the gallbladder demonstrates echoes and posterior dense shadowing, with usually poor delineation of the gallbladder wall itself. This could be mistaken for gas in the gallbladder wall (emphysematous cholecystitis).

Plain radiograph and CT

The appearance of porcelain gallbladder on both radiography and CT are pathognomonic, demonstrating a thin layer of mineralization outlining the gallbladder wall.

MRI

Because of MRI's inferior ability to detect calcification, relative to CT, it does not play a significant role in imaging the condition.

Treatment and prognosis

Based on early studies which revealed a high association between porcelain gallbladder and gallbladder adenocarcinoma (22-30% of porcelain gallbladders developing gallbladder adenocarcinoma ), cholecystectomy has been routinely performed when a porcelain gallbladder is identified.

More recent studies have cast some doubt on the association, and the risk of gallbladder cancer associated with calcification of the wall may be 5-7% .

There is no accepted follow-up interval, but the annual incidence of developing gallbladder cancer is likely to be <1% per year, and CT follow-up is likely unhelpful .

Differential diagnosis

On ultrasound, also consider:

• gallstones / wall-echo-shadow sign: there should be a thin hypoechoic bile space between the gallbladder "wall" and the gallstone "echo"
• gas: shadowing of air tends to be dirty, rather than the clean anechoic shadow of calcification
  • emphysematous cholecystitis
  • pneumobilia

Siehe auch:

• Aerobilie
• emphysematöse Cholezystitis
• Cholezystolithiasis
• calcification of the gallbladder wall
• wall echo shadow sign
• Gallenblasenkarzinom bei Porzellangallenblase

und weiter:

• Gallenblase
• verkalkte Echinokokkuszysten
• Verdickung der Gallenblasenwand
• intraabdominelle Verkalkungen