A diverse spectrum of benign tumors and tumorlike lesions arises from the gallbladder and bile ducts, and despite their diversity, these lesions share common embryologic origins and histologic characteristics. Although these lesions are relatively uncommon, their importance lies in their ability to mimic malignant lesions in these locations. Benign neoplasms are derived from the epithelial and nonepithelial structures that compose the normal gallbladder and bile ducts. The epithelium gives rise to adenomas, cystadenomas, and the unusual condition of biliary papillomatosis. Granular cell tumors, neurofibromas, ganglioneuromas, paragangliomas, and leiomyomas are examples of benign tumors that may originate from nonepithelial structures. Tumorlike lesions are more commonly found in the gallbladder and include xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis, adenomyomatous hyperplasia, cholesterol polyps, and heterotopias. In the clinical setting of a patient with nonspecific abdominal complaints or symptoms of biliary obstruction, the discovery of a gallbladder or bile duct polyp or mass, gallbladder wall thickening, or biliary stricture is most often indicative of malignancy. However, the differential diagnosis should include benign tumors and tumorlike lesions. The preoperative determination of a benign lesion may significantly alter therapy and patient prognosis.

https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/pdf/10.1148/radiographics.22.2.g02mr08387

From the archives of the AFIP. Benign tumors and tumorlike lesions of the gallbladder and extrahepatic bile ducts: radiologic-pathologic correlation. Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.

Papillary tumors of the bile ducts are intraductal tumors with numerous minute frondlike papillary projections. Some intraductal papillary tumors of the bile ducts produce a large amount of mucin that disturbs bile flow and causes severe biliary dilatation. In the presence of a tumor of this subgroup, the entire biliary tree is dilated; segmental or lobar bile ducts are dilated disproportionately, and aneurysmal dilatation may occur. Mucin is depicted at cholangiography as multiple elongated or cordlike filling defects, and the tumor is depicted on cross-sectional images as a castlike, polypoid, or fungating mass in the dilated biliary tree. Based on these characteristic imaging features-dilatation, mucin, and tumor-correct diagnosis of intraductal papillary mucinous tumor of the bile ducts may be made.

Intraductal papillary mucinous tumor of the bile ducts.

Primary hepatolithiasis (HL), recurrent pyogenic cholangitis, and oriental cholangiohepatitis are terms commonly used in Japan, Hong Kong, and Korea respectively, and describing the different aspects of the same disease, with "HL" indicating the pathologic changes, "recurrent pyogenic cholangitis" emphasizing the clinical presentation and suppurative inflammation, and "oriental cholangiohepatitis" highlighting its ethnic preference and mysterious nature. HL is predominantly a disease of the far east and shows great regional differences in the incidence and the type of intrahepatic stones. Pathologically, it is characterized by pigmented calcium bilirubinate stones within dilated intrahepatic bile ducts featuring chronic inflammation, mural fibrosis, and proliferation of peribiliary glands, without extrahepatic biliary obstruction. Episodes of suppurative inflammation cumulate in sclerosing cholangitis in peripheral ducts and parenchymal fibrosis from scarring and collapse. Mass-forming inflammatory pseudotumor and neoplasms-like intraductal papillary neoplasms and cholangiocarcinoma are increasingly recognized complications. Bacterial infection and dietary factors are believed to be important in the formation of pigment stones within intrahepatic bile ducts, whereas parasitic infestation is likely coincidental. With improvement of environmental conditions and westernization of diet, the incidence of pigment stones has decreased. At the same time, cholesterol stones with milder clinical manifestations and pathologic changes are increasingly recognized, and for which stone dissolution therapy can be considered. Understanding the underlying pathology avoids confusion with other diseases more prevalent in the western world, and allows correct selection of the appropriate treatment.

Primary hepatolithiasis, recurrent pyogenic cholangitis, and oriental cholangiohepatitis: a tale of 3 countries.

Papillary tumors of the bile duct are intraductal tumors with innumerable minute, frondlike papillary projections. These tumors may be either fixed to or detached from the bile duct wall. However, because the papillary projections on the surface of papillary tumors are long and slender, the tumors are friable and slough easily. The sloughed tumor fragments may float within the bile ducts, resulting in intermittent partial biliary obstruction and mimicking bile duct stones at clinical examination and at ultrasonography (US), computed tomography (CT), and cholangiography. A tumor manifests radiologically as thickening and irregularity of the bile duct wall or as a fixed or sloughed intraductal mass. A nonshadowing intraductal echogenic cast seen at US, an intraductal noncalcified soft-tissue mass with asymmetric wall thickening seen at CT, and an intraductal mass with a papillary surface and a serrated bile duct margin seen at cholangiography are all appearances that suggest a papillary tumor and may be helpful in differentiating a tumor from a bile duct stone.

Papillary Neoplasms of the Bile Duct That Mimic Biliary Stone Disease

https://www.cghjournal.org/article/S1542-3565(09)00141-4/pdf

A Comparison of Hepatic Mucinous Cystic Neoplasms With Biliary Intraductal Papillary Neoplasms

Diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of endoscopic retrograde cholangiography in papillomatosis of the bile ducts: analysis of five cases

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

Perre Blanc

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

Diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of endoscopic retrograde cholangiography in papillomatosis of the bile ducts: analysis of five cases