Port site recurrence of gallbladder carcinoma in situ initially diagnosed as severe dysplasia

Abstract

We report a case of port site recurrence of gallbladder carcinoma in situ initially diagnosed as severe dysplasia after laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). A 70–year–old woman underwent LC because of cholelithiasis. The pathological diagnosis of the resected gallbladder was severe dysplasia. Twenty months after LC, a tumor developed in her abdominal wall near the umbilical port. Histological examination revealed the tumor was poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Pathological diagnosis as well as operative findings strongly suggested port site recurrence of gallbladder carcinoma. The mechanism of port site recurrence is considered as direct implantation of cancer cells when the specimen was taken out. The number of early stage gallbladder carcinoma diagnosed after LC is recently increasing as LC has widespread acceptance. Even when there is little likelihood of malignancy in preoperative examinations, possibility of unexpected cancer must be kept in mind and careful procedure should be employed.