Gallbladder Body

Abstract: The aim of the study is to evaluate the impact of application of surgical strategies at different cancer stages on the survival of gallbladder cancer (GBC) patients. The patients with GBC were divided into 3 groups according to their received surgical strategies: simple resection (full-thickness cholecystectomy for removal of primary tumor site), radical resection (gallbladder bed removal combined with partial hepatectomy), and palliative surgery (treatment at advanced stages). The overall survival (OS) of GBC patients who were received different surgical strategies was compared. Survival analysis showed that radical resection had a best OS at clinical stage II, and simple resection had a best OS at tumor clinical stage IV. Cox hazard proportional regression analysis showed that more advanced tumor stages, tumor location of gallbladder body or neck, and CA199 ≥ 27 U/mL were the major risk factors for the OS of GBC. At tumor stage II, radical resection should be the most effective surgical therapy for GBC. However, the effect of radical resection at advanced stages could be restricted. The utilization of radical resection should be increased at tumor stage II for a better long-term survival outcome.

Abstract: The microvasculature of the gallbladder, the common bile duct, and the duodenal papilla was investigated in 20 albino guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) using microvascular corrosion casting and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Main supplying and draining vessels (first-order vessels) approach the gallbladder along the cystic duct. From the latter, penetrating vessels (second-order vessels) arise which pierce the muscular coat of the gallbladder body to form the plexus of third-order vessels between the muscle coat and the mucosa. Third-order vessels finally branch to supply the subepithelial capillaries, which show a honeycomb arrangement, corresponding to the gallbladder pits. At the areas bordering mucosal pits and beneath the tunicae plicae mucosae, the capillaries form glomera. These structures make the mucosal vasculature suitable for adapting to gallbladder wall distension caused by volume changes. The mucosal capillary glomera may also be involved in absorption of substances from bile, or they could act as buffer zones, counteracting the pressure which develops as the gallbladder volume increases. Venous sphincters occurring at the junction of mucosal vessels with the subjacent third-order veins may regulate blood flow in the mucosal glomera. The neck region as well as bile ducts consist of 2 vascular layers: an inner capillary layer and an outer one containing arterioles and venules. The duodenal papilla has a hemispheric shape and is interposed in the transition zone between the stomach and the duodenum. On the most luminal aspect, the capillaries of the papilla have a ring-shaped arrangement, as do the capillaries of the stomach, surrounding the mucosal glands; the remainder of the papilla is covered by duodenal villi capillaries.

Abstract: Two Taiwanese patients with gallbladder small cell carcinoma are reported. One is a 79 year-old male, the other, a 86 year-old female. They both presented with the symptom/signs of acute cholecystitis and underwent cholecystectomy. An intramural mass in the gallbladder neck region was found in the first patient, while the second patient had a transmural indurated tumor in the gallbladder body with extension to the neck region. Characteristic histological and immunohistochemical features of small cell carcinoma were present in both, and electron dense neurosecretory granules were identified in the second. To our knowledge, the second patient is the oldest ever reported. The first patient received chemotherapy directed toward the initial erroneous diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and developed liver metastasis in two months. The second patient did not receive chemotherapy due to her poor general condition and local recurrence occurred in six weeks. Both passed away three and five months after surgery, respectively.