CONGENITAL ABSENCE OF THE GALLBLADDER AND THE EXTRAHEPATIC BILE DUCTS

Abstract

Congenital absence of the gallbladder, including the extrahepatic bile ducts, is probably the second in order of frequency of rare anomalies. The presence of two livers is given as the rarest. The case reported here, which occurred in a child 5 months of age, represents 1 in a series of 3,669 postmortem examinations performed at the pathologic institute of the Cook County Hospital since 1928. Because of its rarity, it was deemed worthy of reporting. There are over 175 reports of congenital obliteration or atresia of one or more of the bile ducts and gallbladder, as reviewed by Parsons and Hickmans,1Rolleston and Hayne,2Thompson,3Wyard,4Holmes,5Ladd,6Emmanuel7and Coburg.8In the cases represented by these reports the gallbladder was usually normally present, or at least a remnant of it. In some cases, one or more of the ducts were recognized.