Congenital Agenesis Of Gallbladder Research Articles

Prenatally diagnosed congenital agenesis of the gallbladder: A case report

Congenital agenesis of the gallbladder is a rare malformation of the biliary system. The etiology of the development of gallbladder agenesis is not fully known; malformation during embryonic development is considered its main cause. Although gallbladder agenesis detected in adults during surgery has been reported many times, prenatally diagnosed gallbladder agenesis has rarely been reported. Herein, we report a case of gallbladder agenesis that was diagnosed in a male neonate in the intrauterine period at 26 +3 weeks on prenatal ultrasonography (USG). In most cases, the gallbladder is visualized on a follow-up USG performed prenatally or after birth, even if the gallbladder is not seen once during prenatal USG. However, our patient's gallbladder was not visualized in the USG after birth also. Therefore, we performed a hepatobiliary scan and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) to find the gallbladder; however, the gallbladder was not visualized. Half of the patients with gallbladder agenesis experience right upper quadrant pain, nausea, or dyspepsia. However, our child did not show any symptoms. This case report will help to manage patients who have no gallbladder. • Congenital agenesis of gallbladder (GB) is rare (9 per 100,000). • Gallbladder agenesis detected in adults during surgery has been reported many times. • Prenatal diagnosed gallbladder agenesis has rarely been reported. • In this case, gallbladder agenesis case was prenatally diagnosed with ultrasound.

Gall bladder agenesis: a surgeon’s dilemma

Congenital agenesis of gall bladder is a rare anomaly which poses a diagnostic dilemma to the surgical fraternity. Ultrasonography, which is the standard investigation of choice in gall bladder diseases often gives a mistaken diagnosis of cholelithiasis in the background of a shrunken gall bladder with hyperechoic shadows suggestive of gall stones. Intra-operatively this poses a surprise to the operating surgeon who fails to locate gall bladder in its normal anatomic position as well as any of the ectopic sites. The controversy in further course of management whether to abandon the procedure and follow-up with a post-operative imaging such as MRCP or to convert the laparoscopic procedure into an open surgery has been a debate for the surgeons. Most of the literature favours the first approach, thereby reducing the morbidity associated with the surgery. In this case report we present a 42-year-old male who presented with symptoms of gall bladder disease to a peripheral surgical centre and how we approached the intra-operative dilemma once gall bladder was not visualized.