Histopathological Spectrum of gall bladder specimens after cholecystectomy

Objective: To determine the histopathological pattern of gall bladder specimens in patients undergoing cholecystectomy. Methodology: This was a retrospective study carried out mainly at a private university hospital and two other non-teaching private hospitals of Hyderabad city over a period of three years from June 2005 to May 2008. Histopathology reports of all those patients who underwent cholecystectomy (open or laparoscopic) were analyzed. The records of these patients were scrutinized with particular emphasis on presentation, preoperative ultrasonographic findings, operative findings and histopathology results. Results: A total of 282 specimens of gall bladder were subjected to histopathology during the study period. Among them 75 were of males and remaining 207 were of females. Chronic cholecystitis was the most dominant histopathology finding seen in about 64.5% patients followed by acute cholecystitis / empyema in 33.6% of patients whereas carcinoma of gall bladder was found in only about 1.4% of the patients. Conclusion: The commonest histopathological feature in this study was chronic cholecystitis.