Abstract
INCIDENTAL GALL BLADDER CARCINOMA EVALUATION IMPORTANCE OF ROUTINE HISTOPATHOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF CHOLECYSTECTOMY SPECIMEN

Gall bladder carcinoma is a rare malignancy that carries a very poor prognosis. The gallbladder specimens are sent for routine histopathological examination in the pathology department to rule out incidental gallbladder carcinoma. The incidence of incidental gallbladder carcinoma diagnosis is estimated between 0.35 - 2 % in cholecystectomy specimens done for benign GB diseases. This study aims to find out the incidental gallbladder carcinoma detected during routine histopathological examination and also to access the importance of routine histopathological examination of cholecystectomy specimens. We retrospectively reviewed the pathological laboratory and clinical details of gallbladder specimens of patients who underwent cholecystectomy procedure for biliary diseases during three years period from October 2012 to September 2015. Total no. of cholecystectomy specimen received were 1125 out of which we observed histological evidence of incidental gallbladder carcinoma in 22 no. of cases. Macroscopic abnormalities like thickened wall were found in all the 20 cases and in two cases polypoid mass with delicate papillary projections were observed. The frequency of incidental gallbladder carcinoma was 1.96 % and most of the cases are detected at stage I. Due to difficulty in distinguishing inflammatory changes of gallbladder from that of malignancy pre-operatively and in high incidence areas of GBC, routine histopathological examination should be made mandatory in all cholecystectomy specimens.