Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Pathology, Diagnostic procedure, Ultrasound, MR, CT, Abdomen
Authors:
C. Martínez Martínez1, J. A. Miras Ventura2, P. Pérez Naranjo1, L. Guirado Isla1, F. Briones Bajaña1, M. Fernández Conesa1, L. Díaz Rubia1, I. Garrido Márquez1; 1Granada/ES, 2Granada, Granada/ES
DOI:
10.26044/ecr2019/C-2346
Background
It is considered that the gallbladder wall is thickened when it measures more than 3 mm.
Ultrasound,
CT and MRI allow direct visualization of the gallbladder wall.
Ultrasound has traditionally been the initial test to assess the gallbladder wall due to its easy availability and high sensitivity to detect biliary pathology such as lithiasis.
In ultrasound,
the thickening of the gallbladder wall is detected as several lines of different echogenicity.
In some cases,
CT is the test of choice to find parietal thickening of the gallbladder,
that it is sometimes seen as hypodense layer of subserosal edema,
or it is used as a complementary study to ultrasound.
MRI plays a little role because of its lower availability.
It is important to make a good differential diagnosis because the management can vary considerably,
from a benign process like adenomyomatosis to requiring surgical treatment in the case of cholecystitis.