Primary gallbladder cancer discovered postoperatively after elective and emergency cholecystectomy.

BACKGROUND Gallbladder cancer is a rare neoplasm associated with high mortality and poor prognosis. It is usually correlated with cholelithiasis and presents more commonly in elderly and female patients. Diagnosis is seldom made preoperatively because of the indolent progression of the tumor. METHODS The hospitalization and surgical records of our surgical department were examined from January 1992 to December 2001, searching for patients who had undergone cholecystectomy. Additionally, the histopathological diagnoses of the same period were studied searching for patients with the diagnosis of gallbladder cancer established post-operatively and not intraoperatively by frozen section. RESULTS In the period of 1992- 2001, a total of 1,536 cholecystectomies took place and 14 cases of gallbladder cancer were diagnosed postoperatively. The ratio of men to women is 3/ 11 with a mean age of 69.4 years. The clinical symptoms were nonspecific and mortality was 57%. CONCLUSION In most cases gallbladder cancer is diagnosed after cholecystectomy and even in these cases it can be in an advanced stage and the prognosis of this rare neoplasm is poor.