Porcelain gallbladder is a condition where the gallbladder wall becomes calcified due to chronic inflammation caused by gallstones. It is usually detected through imaging and requires surgery to remove the gallbladder to reduce the risk of developing gallbladder cancer.
Porcelain gallbladder means that the wall of the gallbladder has been calcified into a hard, bluish-white structure similar to porcelain ceramic. This medical condition primarily results from gallstones that chronically inflame the gallbladder; when many gallstones collect in the gallbladder, it becomes irritated or inflamed and causes calcification or a buildup that may require surgery. Sometimes gallstones can lead to a condition known as chronic cholecystitis, which can change the texture of the gallbladder wall, resulting in a porcelain appearance.
How the gallbladder works
To understand the process that creates the porcelain gallbladder, it’s best to first understand how this digestive organ works. The four-inch (10 cm) gallbladder stores bile, a kind of acid, which digests the fats in food. The cystic duct transfers the bile produced in the liver to the gallbladder and the gallbladder stores or passes along the right amount of bile through the common bile duct to the small intestine where the bile breaks down the fat. When bile fails to break down fat, perhaps due to a high-fat diet, the excess cholesterol can crystallize into gallstones.
Gallstones
Even though they’re tiny, gallstones can lodge in the ducts that carry bile and restrict the flow of fluids. These stones are hard deposits that can range in size from a grain of sand to the size of a golf ball. A buildup of gallstones can cause unhealthy blockages that end up inflaming or infecting the entire gallbladder, a condition called chronic cholecystitis. Over time, the wall and lining of the gallbladder thickens and hardens due to infection and inflammation, resulting in a porcelain gallbladder.
Events and treatment
Women are five times more likely than men to suffer from the condition, even though the overall incidence in the general population is less than one percent. In 90 percent of porcelain gallbladder cases, calcification is a direct result of chronic cholecystitis, but medical experts still don’t know exactly what causes it. Since the porcelain gallbladder has no early symptoms, it is usually detected by a CT scan, X-ray or ultrasound conducted for another reason where the porcelain gallbladder appears as a visible, dense pocket next to the liver. Later symptoms include jaundice, abdominal pain, and vomiting, at which point the condition is usually detected by a healthcare professional.
So far, the recommended treatment for this condition is to remove the entire gallbladder to reduce the risk of developing gallbladder cancer. Researchers are still studying the relationship between the porcelain gallbladder and increased risk of gallbladder cancer, as studies have shown the two are not as closely related as previously believed.
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