Case Report
Copyright ©2006 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 14, 2006; 12(6): 977-978
Published online Feb 14, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i6.977
A case of Crohn’s disease involving the gallbladder
Akira Andoh, Yoshihiro Endo, Ryoji Kushima, Kazunori Hata, Tomoyuki Tsujikawa, Masaya Sasaki, Eiji Mekata, Toru Tani, Yoshihide Fujiyama
Akira Andoh, Yoshihiro Endo, Ryoji Kushima, Kazunori Hata, Tomoyuki Tsujikawa, Masaya Sasaki, Eiji Mekata, Toru Tani, Yoshihide Fujiyama, Department of Internal Medicine, Surgery and Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science, Seta Tukinowa, Otsu 520-2192, Japan
Correspondence to: Dr Akira Andoh, Department of Internal Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science, Seta Tukinowa, Otsu 520-2192, Japan. andoh@belle.shiga-med.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-77-5482217
Received: March 6, 2005
Revised: April 1, 2005
Accepted: July 28, 2005
Published online: February 14, 2006
Abstract

Crohn’s disease is well known to affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract including the oral cavity and anus. Various extraintestinal complications have been reported in Crohn’s disease, but extraintestinal involvement characterized by granulomatous lesions is uncommon. Here, we have reported a case about the involvement of the gallbladder in Crohn’s disease. A 33-year-old woman was diagnosed having panperitonitis due to intestinal perforation and cholecystitis. The patient was moved to the surgical service for an emergency operation. On the resected specimen, there was a broad longitudinal ulcer at the mesenteric side. The mucosa of the gallbladder was nodular and granular, and the wall was thickened. The surface epithelium of the gallbladder was partially eroded and pyloric gland metaplasia was observed focally. Rokitansky-Aschoff sinuses were also present. From the lamina propria to the subserosal layer, there were several well-formed epithelioid cell granulomas, which were the non-caseating sarcoidal type different from the foreign-body and xanthomatous granulomas. Periodic-acid Schiff and acid fast stains revealed no organism within the granulomas. Lymphoid aggregates were present throughout the gallbladder wall. Sections from the resected ileum showed typical features of the Crohn’s disease. When cholecystectomy is performed in a patient with Crohn’s disease, the possibility of gallbladder involvement should be carefully examined by histopathological tests.

Keywords: IBD; Granuloma; Inflammation