Causes Of Gallbladder Wall Thickening Radiology

Thickening of the gallbladder wall usually considered 3 mm is a non specific sign of various conditions.

Causes of gallbladder wall thickening radiology.

Focal gallbladder wall thickening is often an imaging diagnosis and encompasses a wide variety of differential diagnoses. Technical factors such as the angle of the. Historically a thick walled gallbladder has been regarded as proof of primary gallbladder disease and it is a well known hallmark feature of acute cholecystitis. Other speculated mechanisms of gallbladder wall thickening in the disease states above are increased portal venous pressure and generalized edema.

Enhancement of the bowel in ischemia can be normal increased due to reperfusion or there can be lack of enhancement like in this case. Cholecystitis can occur in children without gallbladder wall thickening as well. Thus for all non emergent exams a fasting period of 6 12 hours. Pseudothickening caused by the normal postprandial state of the contracted gallbladder is also extremely common 5.

Going back through radiology journal articles older than the ones below 1970s 80s the same mechanisms are invoked repeatedly and other older articles are referenced. Polypoid lesions of the gallbladder form an important group of conditions that are included in the differential diagnosis of focal gallbladder wall thickening and can be divided into neoplastic and non neoplastic groups figure 57 1. Thickening and hyperemia pre and post contrast of the wall and a single stone is shown on the mri of a patient with chronic cholecystitis. Ten were excluded since they had other diseases which could lead to wall thickening.

Thickening of the gallbladder wall is a relatively frequent finding at diagnostic imaging studies. Cholecystitis acute cholecystitis chronic cholecystitis gallbladder empyema 7 xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis 11 acalculous cholecystitis11 postprandial phy. Liver enzymes were measured at the time of the examination in all patients. Diffuse thickening of the gallbladder wall can occur in a number of situations.

Gallbladder wall thickening can be caused by inflammatory benign and malignant etiologies. Thirty six patients with acute hepatitis and 25 normal volunteers were examined by ultrasound to determine the thickness of the gallbladder wall.