Cholecystitis with Stone Producing an Atypical Shadow: Report of a Case

Abstract

A woman, aged forty-eight years, came to the clinic complaining of loss of weight and appetite over a period of nine months. She had had a severe attack of typhoid fever at the age of eighteen, but for many years had enjoyed excellent health. From November, 1924, to May, 1925, she had nursed an aged relative and was under an unusual strain. About February, 1925, she commenced losing weight. In seven months she lost 30 pounds. About May her appetite failed; she had no food intolerance, but food did not appeal to her and she ate less. There was no apparent loss of strength. For fourteen years she had experienced a sensation of pressure over the gall-bladder area. At times she thought she could palpate a mass. There was never any jaundice, nausea, or emesis. During the last week before coming to the clinic she suffered daily attacks of cramps in the upper abdomen, lasting for a few hours. Physical examination elicited some fullness in the right upper abdominal quadrant, with rigidity of the right rectus musc...