A case diagnosed as congenital defect of the gallbladder by laparoscopy

Abstract

Congenital defect of the gallbladder is a relatively rare disease. It is difficult to make a preoperative diagnosis of the disease even today since the development of image diagnosis, and actually, many cases are still diagnosed during surgery. Herein, we report our experience in a patient who was introduced to our hospital for cholecystolithiasis suggested by ultrasound, and diagnosed as having a defect of the gallbladder after we performed laparoscopic examination of the peritoneal cavity of the patient. The case was a 39-year-old female patient who visited a nearby hospital to undergo further examination for hepatic dysfunction, which was suggested in a health checkup, and cholecystolithiasis, which was suggested by ultrasound. She was introduced to our hospital for close examination despite showing no symptoms of cholecystolithiasis. CT suggested changes caused by cholecystolithiasis and contracted gallbladder; although the gallbladder was not visualized. Laparoscopic examination of the peritoneal cavity was not able to confirm the gallbladder, and thus it was diagnosed as congenital defect of the gallbladder.