%0 Journal Article
%T Neuroendocrine tumors of the gallbladder: a case report and review of the literature
%A Silvia Mezi
%A Vincenzo Petrozza
%A Orazio Schillaci
%A Valentina La Torre
%A Barbara Cimadon
%A Martina Leopizzi
%A Errico Orsi
%A Filippo La Torre
%J Journal of Medical Case Reports
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1752-1947-5-334
%X We describe the case of a 57-year-old Caucasian man who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy for the evaluation of a gallbladder polyp that had been incidentally detected by ultasonography. Histologically, his lesion was composed of monomorphic cells that contained small round nuclei and that were organized in small nodular, trabecular, and acinar structures. His cells were positive for chromogranin A and synaptophysin, and a diagnosis of "typical" carcinoid of the gallbladder was made. His post-operative computerized axial tomography, 111In-pentetreotide scintigraphy, and hormone-specific marker results were negative. He is disease-free 45 months after surgical treatment.Characteristic pathological findings of the gallbladder neuroendocrine tumors predict the prognosis. Whereas classical carcinoids of the gallbladder only rarely have a metastatic or invasive phenotype, the "atypical" variants are more aggressive and are associated with a poorer prognosis. Given the difficulty in distinguishing between benign and malignant lesions in the pre-surgical setting, we tend to consider each polypoid-like lesion of the gallbladder to be a high-risk lesion if it is larger than 1 cm and, as a result, to emphasize the need for cholecystectomy in all cases, relying on the pathological and immunohistochemistry analyses for the final diagnosis.Carcinoids are rare neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) derived from enterochromaffin or Kulchitsky cells, which are widely distributed in the body [1,2]. Consequently, NETs can be found in any location of the body, although the sites most commonly affected are the gastrointestinal and bronchopulmonary tracts, representing approximately 67% and 25% of cases, respectively [3]. NETs are histologically varied entities and can range from indolent, unrecognized neoplasms to highly active, metastatic secretory tumors [4]. Prognostic factors include primary tumor site, histological differentiation, tumor size, angioinvasion, infiltrative growth, and pr
%U http://www.jmedicalcasereports.com/content/5/1/334