Gallbladder agenesis with midgut malrotation

Successful liver transplantation using a whole liver graft with gallbladder agenesis: First report in pediatric liver transplantation

INTRODUCTION

Gallbladder agenesis (GA) is a rare congenital condition, occurring in approximately 40/100.000. It is likely due to an embryologic mishap in the development of the gallbladder bud and can be associated with other congenital variations in biliary anatomy. However, the liver likely suffers no functional impairment and can be safely used for transplantation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report describing a pediatric liver transplantation (PLT) using a graft with GA.

CASE REPORT

A 10-year-old boy with methylmalonic aciduria underwent isolated liver transplant with a deceased graft from a donor with no relevant medical or surgical history and normal laboratory tests. During the back-table liver preparation procedure, no evidence of gallbladder was found, raising the possibility of a GA, confirmed by intraoperative cholangiography. The liver transplantation procedure was uneventful despite the particularly rare combination of biliary tree anatomic distribution found in the cholangiography. At 1 year of follow-up, there were no clinical, laboratory, or imagological signs of bile leaks or anastomotic site stricture.

DISCUSSION

The present report highlights the importance of the accurate knowledge of the vasculobiliary anatomic variation, particularly in extremely rare cases, such as GA, and in complex hepatobiliary procedures, such as PLT. In our opinion, grafts with GA should not be discarded for transplantation.

Gallbladder agenesis: A case report and brief review

Agenesis of the gallbladder and cystic duct represents one of the rarest anomalies of the biliary system, with a reported incidence of 0.007% to 0.027%. Almost half of the patients develop common duct stones and 23% of them manifest signs and symptoms that mimic biliary colic. We present the case of a woman presenting with symptoms of biliary colic. Based on the clinical findings and after abdominal ultrasonography, which showed hyperechoic material in the gallbladder fossa, a laparoscopic cholecystectomy was planned. Laparoscopy failed to reveal either gallbladder or cystic duct. The procedure was continued to further search for ectopic sites of gallbladder. A condition of gallbladder agenesis was hypothesized and the procedure was aborted without dissection of hepatic pedicle or conversion to laparotomy. Agenesis of gallbladder and cystic duct was confirmed via pos-operative magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography. We report our experience with regard to the challenges associated with the diagnosis and management, and a brief review of the literature of this rare pathology.