Abstract
Amyloidosis is a rare disease defined by extracellular deposits of amorphous fibrillar proteins, derived from aggregations of misfolded proteins. Localization of amyloidosis in the gallbladder is uncommon; only eight cases have been reported. We describe a case of amyloidosis diagnosed by cholecystectomy, which possibly also affected the liver and kidney. The patient was misdiagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica, but after a cholecystectomy to treat chronic cholecystitis, we ultimately diagnosed him with amyloidosis. We review amyloidosis with gallbladder involvement in the literature.
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Fig. 1.
Chest CT showed gallbladder (GB) wall thickening at the fundus, suggesting chronic cholecystitis, GB cancer, or adenomyomatosis.
![kjg-68-49f1.tif](/upload/SynapseXML/0028kjg/thumb/kjg-68-49f1.gif)
Fig. 2.
Abdominal ultrasound showed diffuse mild gallbladder (GB) wall thickening, suggesting chronic cholecystitis with no definite visible mass in the GB.
![kjg-68-49f2.tif](/upload/SynapseXML/0028kjg/thumb/kjg-68-49f2.gif)
Fig. 3.
(A) Postoperative H&E staining of the gallbladder showed chronic cholecystitis with amorphous eosinophilic depositions in the lamina propria mucosa (×40). (B) In Congo red staining of the gallbladder, amyloid depositions were stained in the lamina propria mucosa (×40).
![kjg-68-49f3.tif](/upload/SynapseXML/0028kjg/thumb/kjg-68-49f3.gif)
Fig. 4.
Apple-green birefringence was demonstrated in polarized light microscopy of Congo red staining (×40).
![kjg-68-49f4.tif](/upload/SynapseXML/0028kjg/thumb/kjg-68-49f4.gif)
Table 1.
Cases with Gallbladder Localization of Amyloidosis in the Literature