[Metastasis of medullary plasmocytoma as the cause of acute cholecystitis].
METHODS
A 66-year-old man was found to have a medullary plasmocytoma the year before admission, after sustaining a pathological fracture of the femur. During treatment for sciatica his general condition deteriorated and he developed abdominal pain. Laboratory tests suggested a septic process.


METHODS
The clinical and sonographic findings and computed tomography suggested an acute cholecystitis.


METHODS
A cholecystectomy was performed. Microscopic examination revealed metastatic infiltration of the gall bladder by a medullary plasmocytoma.


CONCLUSIONS
Secondary tumours of the gallbladder considered are thought to be rare. Since 1863 only 95 cases have been reported. The case discussed here is only the second one in which the metastatic tumor was a medullary plasmocytoma. But a search for published and confirmed cases indicates that secondary tumors of the gall bladder are not so rare. Metastatic tumors of the gall bladder should be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis of acute cholecystitis, especially in patients with an advanced primary tumor.
Schuster
D
D
Institut für Neuroanatomie, RWTH Aachen. dschuster@ukaachen.de
Klosterhalfen
B
B
Fiedler
C
C
Prescher
A
A
D000368:Aged; D020295:Brain Stem Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D002763:Cholecystectomy; D041881:Cholecystitis, Acute / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005706:Gallbladder Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010954:Plasmacytoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery