Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016:19:78-81.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijscr.2015.12.020. Epub 2015 Dec 17.

Acute acalculous cholecystitis caused by Hepatitis C: A rare case report

Ahmed Omar  1 , Medhet Osman  2 , Gerard Bonnet  3 , Nafiz Ghamri  4
Affiliations

Acute acalculous cholecystitis caused by Hepatitis C: A rare case report

Ahmed Omar et al. Int J Surg Case Rep. 2016.

Abstract

Introduction: Acute acalculous cholecystitis (AAC) is rarely encountered in clinical practice and has a high morbidity and mortality. AAC caused by viral hepatitis, with hepatitis A, B and EBV infections are rare, but well documented in the literature. Hepatitis C virus has not been reported as cause of AAC. This case report documents the first case of AAC associated with Acute Hepatitis C.

Presenting concerns: We present a 40 years old female with abdominal pain. She has a history of previous HCV infection. Her liver function tests were markedly deranged with elevated inflammatory markers. USS scan showed rather a very unusual appearance of an inflamed gallbladder with no gallstones and associated acute hepatitis, confirmed by an abdominal CT scan. HCV RNA PCR confirms flair up of the virus. The patient was managed conservatively in the hospital with follow up USS scan and Liver function tests showed complete recovery. Follow up HCV RNA PCR also returned to an undetectable level. The patient recovered completely with no adverse outcomes.

Conclusion: This case report is to the first to document the association between acute HCV and AAC. Despite being uncommon in western countries, viral hepatitis should be suspected as a causative agent of AAC, particularly when there is abnormal liver function test and no biliary obstruction.

Keywords: Acute Hepatitis C; Acute acalculous cholecystitis; case report.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Transabdominal ultrasound scan showed diffuse thickening of the gallbladder wall (up to 20 mm thick) with a lamellated hypoechoic appearance to the wall (arrow). The mucosa of gallbladder is seen in the middle of gallbladder with no lumen.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Abdominal computerized tomography coronal and cross-sectional views showed the markedly enhanced gallbladder, with a markedly thickened and hypodense gallbladder wall. There was also a peri-cystic fluid collection and oedema around the portal vein branches with minimal ascites.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Repeat ultrasound scan after 6 weeks showed complete resolution of gallbladder oedema and wall thickening. The gallbladder has returned to a normal appearance.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Shapiro M.J., Luchtefeld W.B., Kurzweil S. Acute acalculous cholecystitis in the critically ill. Am. Surg. 1994;60:335. - PubMed
    1. Glenn F., Becker C.G. Acute acalculous cholecystitis. An increasing entity. Ann. Surg. 1982;195(2):131–136. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Howard R.J. Acute acalculous cholecystitis. Am. J. Surg. 1981;141(2):194–198. - PubMed
    1. Jonsson P.E., Andersson A. Postoperative acute acalculous cholecystitis. Arch. Surg. 1976;111(10):1097–1101. - PubMed
    1. Fuoti M., Pinotti M., Miceli V., Villa M.C., Celano M.R., Amoruso C. Acute acalculous cholecystitis as a complication of hepatitis A: report of 2 paediatric cases. Pediatr. Med. Chir. 2008;30:102–105. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources