GALLBLADDER NEUROENDOCRINE TUMOUR – AN ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY

• Main Authors: Gabriela ANGELESCU, Victor FLORESCU, Mihai T. ANGELESCU
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Balkan Medical Union 2021-06-01
• Series: Archives of the Balkan Medical Union
• Subjects: neuroendocrine tumour; gallbladder; laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Introduction. Primary neuroendocrine tumours of the gallbladder represent 0.2% of all neuroendocrine tumours. The diagnosis is incidental in most cases. Case report. We present the case of a male patient, with no significant personal pathological history, who presented for pain in the right hypochondrium with posterior irradiation. The abdominal ultrasound examination performed at presentation in the emergency room described an acute lithiasis cholecystitis. Laparoscopic surgery proved difficult due to adhesions and difficulties in grasping the gallbladder. The results of the histopathological examination established the diagnosis of a small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, confirmed by the immunohistochemical tests. Conclusions. In most cases of primary neuroendocrine tumours of the gallbladder the paraclinical examinations suggest a benign disease. The positive diagnosis is done after surgery, by histopathological examination, which can change the postoperative therapeutic management.