Spontaneous rupture of the gall bladder: an unusual forensic diagnosis. 2014

Dorothy E Dean, and Jennifer M Jamison, and Jason L Lane
Summit County Medical Examiner's Office, 85 North Summit Street, Akron, OH, 44303.

Peritonitis secondary to spontaneous rupture/perforation of the gall bladder is a rare condition overall and is even less common in the forensic population. We report the case of a middle-aged man who died from generalized peritonitis from gall bladder perforation due to acute acalculous cholecystitis. This condition usually occurs in critical patients with systemic illness, and although the exact pathogenesis remains unclear, the development of acalculous cholecystitis appears to be multifactorial. Antemortem diagnosis is reliant upon clinical presentation, laboratory data, and radiologic studies. Surgery and appropriate antibiotics are mainstays of treatment; however, there is an emerging role for minimally invasive procedures. Histopathologic features show significant overlap with the calculous type. Although increasing numbers of acalculous cholecystitis have been diagnosed in the critically ill, the fatal presentation of a perforated gall bladder following an undiagnosed case of acute acalculous cholecystitis is unusual in a nonhospitalized and ambulatory man.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D010538 Peritonitis INFLAMMATION of the PERITONEUM lining the ABDOMINAL CAVITY as the result of infectious, autoimmune, or chemical processes. Primary peritonitis is due to infection of the PERITONEAL CAVITY via hematogenous or lymphatic spread and without intra-abdominal source. Secondary peritonitis arises from the ABDOMINAL CAVITY itself through RUPTURE or ABSCESS of intra-abdominal organs. Primary Peritonitis,Secondary Peritonitis,Peritonitis, Primary,Peritonitis, Secondary
D005704 Gallbladder A storage reservoir for BILE secretion. Gallbladder allows the delivery of bile acids at a high concentration and in a controlled manner, via the CYSTIC DUCT to the DUODENUM, for degradation of dietary lipid. Gallbladders
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000368 Aged A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available. Elderly
D012422 Rupture, Spontaneous Tear or break of an organ, vessel or other soft part of the body, occurring in the absence of external force. Ruptures, Spontaneous,Spontaneous Rupture,Spontaneous Ruptures
D042101 Acalculous Cholecystitis Inflammation of the GALLBLADDER wall in the absence of GALLSTONES. Cholecystitis, Acalculous,Gallbladder Inflammation, Acalculous,Acalculous Gallbladder Inflammation

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