Abstract

Lymphomatous involvement of the gallbladder is rarely identified and manifests mostly as a local involvement of disseminated disease. There have been reported only about 20 primary malignant lymphomas of the gallbladder without involvement of other sites. A 63-year-old woman presented with jaundice, epigastric pain, and weight olss of two months duration. There was no systemic lymphadenopathy elsewhere. Abdominal computed tomograph revealed a focal thickening of the gallbladder wall. The removed gallbladder contained a well circumscribed, 5x3 cm-sized, slightly elevated firm area with accentuated mucosal papillary excrescences near the neck protion. The lesion involved whole thickness of the wall, and was made up of diffuse atypical lymphoid cell infiltrates of variable size accompanying plasmacytoid differentiation in areas. Some large tumor cells were pleomorphic and contained prominent nucleoli. To our knowledge, this is the first case of primary malignant lymphoma of the gallbladder in Korean literature.

• Keywords: Gallbladder;Malignant lymphoma