Ectopic liver tissue attached to the gallbladder

Abstract

A 55-year old woman underwent cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis. The removed gallbladder showed a serosal encapsulated nodule, measuring 14 x 6 mm, that histologically was an ectopic functioning liver. This nodule had no connection with the main liver. Accessory liver tissue is nearly always an incidental finding in the course of operations and postmortem examinations. It arises in the neighbourhood of the gallbladder from residual liver cells in the caudal part of the embryonic liver; it may also be found in some other organs and structures in close proximity to the liver during fetal life.