Acute hepatitis - diffuse gallbladder wall thickening

Case contributed by Albert P. Matifoll
Diagnosis certain

Presentation

Epigastric abdominal pain for more than a week. No associated fever.

Patient Data

Age: 35 years
Gender: Male

Thickening of 1.5 cm of the gallbladder wall with hypoechoic areas in the wall, suggesting wall edema.

There were no associated collections, cholelithiasis, biliary sludge, or biliary ductal dilatation. Diffusely increased echogenicity of homogeneous liver parenchyma.

Case Discussion

Sometimes it is difficult to assess the wall thickness of a gallbladder that is not distended.

But as appreciated in this case, this finding cannot be dismissed, and should be related to clinical findings. We suggested to that this may be due to acute hepatitis instead of cholecystitis or choledocholithiasis.

Blood test:

  • IgM VHA -
  • HBsAg +
  • Ig M antiHBc +
  • antiVHC -

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