Primary carcinoma of the gallbladder

• Published in: The American journal of surgery Vol. 125; no. 6; pp. 726 - 729
• Main Authors: Keill, Ralph H., DeWeese, M.S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.06.1973
• Subjects: Adenocarcinoma - complications; Adenocarcinoma - diagnostic imaging; Adenocarcinoma - surgery; Anemia - etiology; Carcinoma - complications; Carcinoma - diagnostic imaging; Carcinoma - surgery; Cholecystectomy; Cholecystography; Female; Gallbladder Neoplasms - complications; Gallbladder Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Gallbladder Neoplasms - surgery; Gastrostomy; Humans; Jaundice - etiology; Jejunum - surgery; Liver Function Tests; Lymphatic Metastasis; Male; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Metastasis; Radionuclide Imaging; Retrospective Studies
• ISSN: 0002-9610; 1879-1883
• DOI: 10.1016/0002-9610(73)90173-6

The clinical records of thirty-three patients treated at the University of Missouri Medical Center for carcinoma of the gallbladder have been studied retrospectively. Eighty-five per cent of these patients were over sixty years of age and all but three were female. The most common symptom was abdominal pain. Gallstones were present in 75.8 per cent. The most common histologic type of tumor encountered was adenocarcinoma, but 12.1 per cent of the tumors were adenoacanthoma. The mean survival time after operation was 2.95 months. On the basis of current information and knowledge, early cholecystectomy in all patients with calculous disease appears to offer the best hope for decreasing the distressingly high mortality associated with carcinoma of the gallbladder.